Forever and Always
by x-Amz-x
Summary: Two children, born months apart. Inseperable from age one they grow and learn together. But when trials and tribulations start to unfold, can they help each other through?
1. Chapter 1

**Hiiiii, it's been a longggg time but i'm back with a new fic. It's different to anything I've done previously so please bare with it and give me your opinions ******

Also this is totally complete and already typed. I didn't want to keep people waiting like I did with IBSY and so enjoy ** Please let me know what you think.**

**June 20****th**** 1986**

"Come on sweetheart, you can do it" Carlisle said to his heavily panting wife. And with one more big push, Esme Cullen brought her son into the world. The baby cried fiercely as the nurses wrapped him in a soft blue blanket, but as soon as he was handed to his mother and rested gently against her chest, he quietened and opened his startlingly green eyes to stare at his mother's face.

Esme gasped,

"His eyes! They're already so green!" She beamed at Carlisle before looking back at her son and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. Tears of joy filled her eyes as Carlisle whispered,

"Just like yours. Well done baby" he leant down and captured Esme's lips in a firm kiss. He looked to his son and gently ran a finger across his chest and said,

"Welcome to the world Edward"

**13****th ****September 1986**

"That's it Renee, nearly there." Charlie coaxed his ex-wife. Renee had announced that she wanted a divorce a mere 3 months earlier and had left their how leaving Charlie heartbroken. Then it was only two weeks later that she had announced to Charlie that when their baby was born she would be renouncing all parental rights and the baby would be Charlie's to look after, Renee had never been the maternal type, but still Charlie was shocked by the revelation. And though the thought of bringing a baby up alone scared the living daylights out of him, it was the little light on the horizon that helped Charlie to get through his divorce. And so as Renee gave a final unattractive grunt and brought their Daughter into the world, Charlie left Renee's side and followed the nurses who now held his reason for living. She was alert as she looked around, not crying at all simply panting hard. When she was swaddled in a pink blanket and handed to Charlie, he truly believed for the first time in 3 months that he would be just fine.

"My little Isabella, beautiful Bella" he whispered reverently and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

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	2. Chapter 2

It was 1 year to the day that Isabella was born that the two infants first met. Little Isabella was turning one and Charlie was taking her to celebrate in his favourite diner, where the staff had become like Bella's second family. A small corner of the diner had been reserved for Charlie, Bella and the small number of guests who were attending. Though being the police chief in a small town gave Charlie a lot of people he could call friends, there were fewer he could call close friends. Billy was one of these people. They had been friends since childhood and were still close. Billy had devastatingly lost both his wife and young son Jacob in the car crash that paralysed him just 2 years ago and it was his friendship with Charlie that got him through that dark time. So now Charlie included Billy in everything earning him honorary Uncle status with Bella.

Also joining the small party was Harry and Sue Clearwater friends of both Billy and Charlie. Bella sat in her highchair beside Charlie while the adults sat around the small table. The group were just settling down to eat when the diner door opened again and a family walked through.

Dr Cullen walked in first holding 3 year old Emmett's hand and carrying 1 year old Edward in his arms. Esme followed him in with her hand resting on her swollen stomach, where the couple's first little girl was growing steadily ready for her arrival in a little over a month.

Charlie looked up as the Cullens passed the table,

"Dr Cullen" he called. Charlie looked over and spotted Charlie

"Hello Chief Swan, what's the occasion?" he asked noticing the small party around the table. Charlie beamed and pointed towards the balloon floating over young Bella's head,

"My little Bells is 1 today"

Esme smiled as Bella grabbed a handful of her cake and giggled

"Well of course, Happy Birthday little lady" Carlisle said reaching over a tickling her under her chin. Bella looked at him curiously, with a gaze more intense than a normal 1 year old. Then she smiled at him, grabbed his hand and smeared cake all over it.

Edward saw and began laughing in Carlisle's arms causing a ripple of laughter to move around the adults.

"Would you join us Dr Cullen?" Charlie asked

"Of course, thank you" Carlisle replied "And how many times, call me Carlisle" Charlie smiled

"And you call me Charlie." Carlisle agreed and the men shook hands. Esme rolled her eyes while setting up a highchair next to Bella for Edward.

"Esme!" Carlisle exclaimed as she went to lift Edward from his arms,

"What?" she asked. Carlisle kissed her and then placed Edward in the highchair himself.

"I told you to take it easy, no lifting" he said resting his hand on her swollen stomach.

"Oh you worry too much" she said taking a seat and passing Emmett his colouring book and pencils.

The other adults chuckled and conversation started up again.

Later on as the party guests were starting to leave Esme and Charlie were talking about the children.

"You have two wonderful boys Esme" Charlie said as he watched Emmett tickle Bella and Edward.

"And you have an incredible little girl" Esme exclaimed causing Charlie to grin.

"I know I do" Charlie began, but as he continued he smile started to slip. "I just can't help but worry about her though. You know of course that Renee never wanted her" he asked, Esme nodded, It had never been right with her, what Renee had done, nor had she liked the gossip it had caused. In a small town like this everyone knew what had happened between Charlie and his ex-wife. Charlie continued,

"Well, she's decided she wants partial custody. Just in the holidays. And I can't say no, as much as I long to, it's not fair to Bella. Then again, a couple of times a year isn't enough. A girl should have her mother around. I mean what's going to happen when she's older? All of that girlie stuff I don't know about. Who's going to help her?" Charlie's eyes began to fill with tears and Esme gasped softly as she pulled him into a hug.

"Oh Charlie! Don't you worry about that, I'm always here for the both of you, we all are. You're right about her mother needing to spend more time with her of course you are, but you and I both know that probably won't happen. So I promise you that if Bella needs me I'll be the best mother figure she could ask for." Charlie smiled at this purely good person and her family

"I appreciate that Esme, I truly do. But you have so much on; you're going to have 3 young children soon."

"Exactly Charlie, one more to take under my wing won't make much difference. How about I take her one day a week after Alice here is born." She said rubbing her swollen stomach absentmindedly "That way, you can have a little time to yourself as well as giving Bella some girl time, besides Alice will probably get fed up in a house full of boys soon enough" Esme chuckled.

Charlie looked at her, seeing the sincerity in her eyes,

"Ok, let's try it. But please if you can't cope of anything of the sort just tell me." Esme smiled

"Don't you worry about that, we'll be fine."

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	3. Chapter 3

**August 1993 – Age 7**

"BELLYYY!" Emmett shouted, running down the porch steps as Charlie's cruiser pulled into their drive. Before Bella could fully step out of the car Emmett had scooped her up and swung her around. Bella repeatedly hit his back to get him to put her down but at the same time she laughed, hard. Finally Emmett returned her to her feet and grinned down at her.

"Hi Emmy" she said breathlessly, smiling at him as best she could.

A softer, gentler voice then spoke from behind Emmett

"Hey Bella" She looked around Emmett and burst into a wide grim before running up to the boy and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hi Edward" She exclaimed hugging him fiercely "I missed you" Edward laughed

"Bella it's been two days, but I missed you too." He replied and hugged her back just as fiercely. Bella realised then that her welcoming committee was incomplete. She turned to say goodbye to her dad before addressing it.

"So where's the pixie?" she asked. No one replied, in fact neither boy would meet her eye and slowly but surely it dawned on her.

"No, no, no, no, no! Edward save me!" she shouted, running swiftly to him. He pulled her into him but didn't move,

"Is it really that bad Bella?" he asked

"Edward, have you ever been a Barbie for Alice?" he shook his head "Then you can't understand. Please help me" she begged and without anymore hesitation Edward grabbed Bella's hand and dragged her around the back of the house.

"Quick, into the treehouse" Edward said, Bella did as he said and began to scramble up the rope ladder into the treehouse Carlisle had built with his sons not too long ago.

Knowing Bella's clumsy nature Edward followed closely behind her. When they reached the safety of the treehouse Edward pulled the ladder up behind them. He turned back to Bella to see her sat against the wall breathing deeply.

"Edward, Alice scares me" she said hugging her legs. Edward chuckled and moved to sit beside her, holding her hand in his.

"Me too Bella but don't worry, I'll protect you. We can stay up here forever" he said and grinned at her. Bella smiled and put her head on his shoulder.

"I'd like that" she replied.

For the rest of the morning Edward and Bella stayed in the treehouse playing card games and talking. They only took a break when Alice figured out where they were and tried everything she could think of to try and get them down. Edward and Bella knew her too well though and simply ignored her and giggled together at her frustration.

At half past 12 Edward and Bella heard Esme call them down for lunch. Resigning themselves to the fact that they wouldn't be able to stay in the treehouse, for one they were really hungry, they lowered the ladder and climbed down. By the time they had wondered into the kitchen Emmet and Alice were already tucking themselves into their food. They sat down quickly and pulled their plates toward them knowing that if they didn't Emmett was likely to start eating their lunch too. Alice glared at them both, her sandwich halfway to her mouth.

"Belllaaaa, why did you run away?" Bella refused to meet her eyes knowing that if she did she would be hit full blast with Alice's "magic pout" her sure fire way to get her own way.

"Because Alice, I don't want a makeover" Bella exclaimed,

"How did you even know?" Alice pouted, crossing her arms and sulking.

"Because I know you too well" Bella said grinning. Alice remained sulking for a moment until a wide grin spread quickly across her face. It made Bella's stomach clench uncomfortably,

"Fine, no problem, but you have to come back to school shopping with me and Momma tomorrow." Bella stared at Alice horror struck.

"Alice! No! School doesn't even start for another month!"

"Exactly! Only 1 month!"

Bella sighed and dropped her head to the table. Edward reached over and grabbed Bella's hand under the table and squeezed it gently. Bella sat up and smiled at Edward

"Fine Alice but I have to ask my Dad first" Alice squealed and jumped up running into the kitchen to Esme. Bella heard Esme attempt to calm Alice down to no avail and finally she sent her back to the table while she went to call Charlie.

Of course Charlie agreed for Bella to go, glad that she could have some more girl time no matter how much she hated shopping. She did however love to spend time with Esme; she was so different to her own Mother; whom Bella only saw for a weekend each holiday and for a week in the summer. She loved Renee, she did, but sometimes she wished Renee would act more like a Mother when she visited, more like Esme instead of relying on Bella to figure out what they could do.

For the rest of the afternoon Alice, Bella, Edward and Emmett played outside on the climbing frame as they did every other Saturday, Bella's usual visiting day, though more often than not she was there throughout the week. At half past 3 they made their way around to the porch where Esme was waiting with their usual snacks of lemonade and homemade cookies. "Your Dad will be here soon Bella" Esme said smiling at Bella while she took her snacks.

"Thank you Esme" Bella replied tucking herself into Esme's side and hugging her

"You're very welcome sweetheart" Esme said pulling her tighter and stroking her hair gently.

It was days like these that Bella dreamed of, surrounded by most of her favourite people and having fun.

And so the news that Esme and Carlisle shared with them that next Saturday that threatened to ruin that fabric; scared Bella as much as it excited her.

She, Alice and Edward had been playing a board game in the treehouse (Emmett was in his room) when Esme had shouted them from the back door.

"Children, could you come inside for a moment please?" she had called.

They didn't hesitate and climbed quickly down one after the other into the dining room where Esme and Carlisle sat waiting with Emmett already seated.

"What's up Momma?" Alice asked

"Nothing sweetheart, we just want a little chat. Your Dad and I have some news."

Bella looked up to Carlisle wondering if she should go back outside, this sounded like a family thing. Carlisle saw the indecision in her face and smiled.

"Don't worry Bella, you're part of our family, this concerns you too"

Edward grabbed her hand and smiled as Esme continued.

"A few months ago your Father had two children come into the hospital, a brother and sister. They had been through some very hard times. Their Mom and Dad were in a car accident and sadly they didn't make it, they died." The children all looked at Esme shocked, they couldn't imagine life without their parents. "Don't worry too much" Esme continued "Your dad helped them, they were very sad at first of course but your dad helped them find someone to talk to and now they're getting better."

"Of course he did, daddy is like a super hero" Alice said beaming. They all laughed and Carlisle scooped Alice up to hug her and sit her on his lap.

Bella smiled, she loved seeing Esme and Carlisle with their children.

"That's not all though" Esme continued. The children are living here with their Grandma now but this is a new and strange town to them. So they are going to need some new friends to help them.

"US!" Edward and Emmett shouted together,

"Exactly" Carlisle said "So you're Mother and I made a decision, we would like the children to come here as much as possible. Their Grandma is an elderly lady so she won't be able to do everything alone, we have offered to look after them as much as she needs and so we need you to be very grown up and understand if they get a lot of attention from us. We just want to make them feel at home here.

There were a few moments of silence as the children took this in. Edward still had Bella's hand clasped in his, grounding him and helping him to think.

"We know this is big and we want to know how you feel" Esme added looking at each of her children and then Bella "You as well Bella sweetheart." Shocked, Bella smiled and nodded at Esme, before speaking,

"If it helps them, then I think it's a brilliant idea. They couldn't ask for a better family to help them." Esme beamed at Bella, tears in her eyes.

Edward spoke next,

"So they would be like our Brother and Sister?" he asked. His parents smiled

"Not exactly Edward, more like best friends that you see every day" Carlisle said and smiled at Bella

"Cool!" Emmett almost shouted "Another Bella!" and Bella blushed a deep red.

"How old are they?" Em continued

"Well their names are Rosalie and Jasper, Rosalie is 9 and Jasper is 8 like Edward"

"Awesome, another dude to hang with!" Emmett grinned.

Alice was the only one yet to speak. She was still on Carlisle's lap with her head against his chest. Bella looked at her worriedly, she had never seen her so quiet.

"Alice hunni?" Esme asked quietly stroking her short black hair gently. She looked up at her Mother and smiled slightly before looking up at her Father

"Will I still be your little girl?" she asked timidly

Carlisle gasped quietly while Esme pressed her hand to her mouth to stop her sob escaping.

"Oh Alice!" Carlisle exclaimed "Of course you are! You always will be, you're my little princess always and forever" Alice smiled now and wrapped her arms around her Fathers neck

"I love you Daddy, and you too Momma. I think it's great"

Esme smiled and held her arms out for Alice. Alice hopped into them and hugged her Mother tight

"We've met them a lot over the last few months and it seems that Rosalie has a particular liking for shopping" Esme said knowing exactly what would happen

"REALLY!?" Alice screamed and the rest of them laughed.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Bella met Jasper and Rosalie just 1 month later at her 8th birthday party. Esme had offered to host the party at the Cullens house this year to give the children a chance to get to know each other and Charlie had readily agreed.

Bella had a hold of Charlie's hand as they arrived at the Cullen's house. She was really excited for her party, but unlike other 8 year olds, not for the cake or presents. She was excited to simply spend the day with her favourite people. Everyone would be there as well as 2 new people. She grew more nervous as she thought about the two newcomers. Would they even like her?

Charlie looked at his little girl, not quite believing she was already 8, and saw the worry on her face.

"Bells, are you ok?" Bella didn't look at her Father, she just nodded. Charlie crouched down in front of her and grasped her shoulders.

"Hey Bella, don't worry they are going to love you, just like I do"

Bella smiled and hugged him

"I love you too Daddy"

The two of them walked into the house and stared around in amazement. Esme had outdone herself. Everywhere they looked streamers of pink, yellow and green hung and balloons covered the walls and floor. Bella ran ahead into the kitchen to find Esme where she knew she would be, preparing some delicious party food. Wrapping her arms around Esme's waist Bella hugged her tight.

"Thank you Esme, I love you" Esme smiled down at the girl she loved just as much as her own children.

"You are very welcome sweetheart. Happy Birthday. I love you too"

"Are they here yet?" Bella asked watching Esme mixing what she thought was cookie dough.

"Yes, they're all in the games room downstairs waiting for you" Bella grinned before hugging Esme once more and running down to the basement room. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she was immediately tackled by a small ball of excitement,

"Hi Alice" Bella said hugging her back

"Happy birthday Bella, are you excited? Today is going to be amazing. Come on you have to meet rose and Jazz. We've told them all about you" she said in a rush and Bella looked up over Alice's head and spotted the two of new members of the extended family. They were sat on the couch in front of the TV, close together and obviously nervous.

Alice dragged Bella over to the couch and sat her down in front of it where Edward and Emmett were currently sat.

"Hey Bellsie, happy birthday" Emmett said grinning, she smiled back

"Thanks Emmy" Edward moved closer to her and nudged her playfully

"Happy birthday Bella. This is Jasper and that's Rosalie" He said pointing to each in turn. Bella smile shyly at them. Jasper was tall for his age and thin. His blonde hair reached his ears and his hazel eyes shined brightly. He smiled back at Bella

"Hi" he greeted and immediately Bella felt calmer.

Rosalie was beautiful. Her blue eyes shone brightly lighting up her whole face while her long blonde hair reached halfway down her back and was poker straight. As Bella smiled at her she frowned and looked away folding her arms. Bella's smile dropped and she leant into Edward. She knew it was going too well. Edward grabbed her hand firmly and squeezed it reassuringly.

Rosalie continued to be distant with everyone but Jasper throughout the day, but it didn't seem to faze Alice who constantly tried to get her involved in conversations about shopping trips. Later on everyone was gathered around the kitchen table to sing Happy Birthday to Bella. Esme came out of the kitchen carrying her cake and Bella blushed. She hated being the centre of attention. As everyone began to sing she ducked her head and blushed harder. When she did lift her head however she blew out her candles, making a wish, just as Rosalie ran out of the room. She wasn't the only one who noticed, Alice looked after her, tears in her eyes. Bella thanked everyone before standing up and grabbing Alice's hand pulled her along after Rosalie.

They found her back on the games room, crying.

"Rosalie?" Bella said tentatively. Her head snapped up and her red, swollen eyes glared at them both.

"Rosalie, what's the matter?"

"Nothing" she snapped. Alice sat next to her and went to hug her but Rosalie pulled away. What she didn't count on however was Alice's inability to give up. Eventually Alice's small arms wrapped around Rosalie and she was pulled into a hug.

"Rose, you can talk to us. Momma says it good to talk about how you're feeling"

"Why? That won't bring my Mommy and Daddy back" and Bella understood

"No it won't, but I can help" she told Rosalie. The young girl looked up at her.

"And how would you know?" she snapped angrily. Bella sat down in front of the two other girls and ducked her head.

"Because my Mom didn't want me. I heard daddy talk to Uncle Billy once. She didn't see me at all until I was 1 and then she only saw me in the holidays when I started school."

"She's not dead though" Rose snapped

"No, but it still makes me sad. You know your Mom loved you. But even though my mom wasn't there, I had Esme, she never said no when I asked to come over and I already come here every Saturday. Some days I feel more at home here that I do with Daddy. I love them all like they are my real family and I know you will too" Bella finished ad looked up at Alice and Rosalie. Alice was smiling brightly and Rosalie was staring at Bella

"Really?" she asked quietly and Bella nodded

"They really are amazing, come on" she replied standing up and pulling the two others up with her.

And from that moment on they were friends.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**February 14****th**** 2002**

I pulled into the parking lot of Forks high and into a space next to the silver Volvo. Standing near the car were my favourite people in the world. Alice tiny and dark haired stood tucked into Jaspers side. They had been together for a couple of months now. Much to Esme and Carlisle's pleasure, Rosalie and Jasper had become as much part of the family as Bella was and the prospect that in a few years Alice and Jasper may make it official had Esme particularly excited. No one could deny the love they shared for each other.

Jasper smiled at me as I climbed out of my truck and I smiled back. He had grown to be tall and thin, his blonde hair still reached his ears and as he looked down at Alice in his arms, his hazel eyes sparkled. Stood next to them was Emmett, his huge stature towering over the rest, arms crossed and looking menacing but Bella knew better, behind the muscles hid the temperament of a teddy bear. He had been held back for a few months meaning he had to delay college until January. But as usual, nothing fazed Emmett.

"Morning Bellsie, tell Rose to go out on a date with me?" I laughed, it had been like this for nearly 6 months. Emmett was desperate for a date with Rosalie but she was feigning reluctance. Alice and Bella knew better, Rosalie was keeping him on his toes but she was just as keen for a date as he was.

"You know what the answer will be Em" I replied then looked to Rose who scowled at Emmett even as her deep blue eyes shined with the promise of tomorrow.

Next to Rose, leant against the bonnet of his precious car stood my favourite person in the universe, though I didn't tell the others that, Edward. His bronze hair blew in the breeze as his crooked grin appeared on his face.

"Morning Edward" I told him blushing as he pulled me into a hug.

"Happy Valentine's day Bella" I groaned. Of course I had forgotten. The others laughed.

"Please, please, please try and keep Mike away from me today" I pleaded with them, Mike Newton was the bane of my existence, constantly asking for dates or kisses or worse. I shuddered at the thought. Emmett cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"I can make sure he doesn't come near you again Bells" he almost growled

"Emmett" I warned " I want him to back off not have a heart attack" Edward chuckled and slung an arm around my shoulders as we walked toward home room.

"It would do him good Bella" He whispered.

After home room I walked to my locker to grab my English book. Opening it I got my first shock of the day. Inside lay on top of my pile of books was a single red rose. Thinking the worst I pulled it out and read thee notes attached. Immediately I knew this was not Mike Newton's doing. He was not capable of the beautiful flowing words that were so carefully written on the think white paper.

_My days are filled with yearning,_

_My nights are full of dreams,_

_I am always thinking of you,_

_I'm in a trance it seems,_

_You are all I have ever wanted,_

_I wish you could be mine,_

_And so I ask you will you be my precious valentine?_

I stared for a long time at the note, running my fingers over the words gently. Who? Was the only question running through my head. I had my hopes about who it was and it certainly seemed like something he would do… no. I stopped that train of thought before it could start and gently placed the Rose back in my locker, taking out my English book at the same time. I headed off to English and by the time I sat next to Edward my mind was almost completely distracted from my secret valentine.

Mr Mason came in before we could talk but that had never stopped us before. A piece of paper slid across the table to sit in front of my just as Mr Mason started to explain today's assignment.

**Are you ok Bella? You seem a little distracted?**

So much for clearing my mind. I didn't reply for a long time and I could tell Edward was worrying. But I couldn't look away from his perfectly flowing handwriting, so familiar that I was baffled. I hadn't realised it before, but no. it couldn't be! Could it? I shook my head to clear it again and wrote back to him.

**Yeah, at least I think so. Just thinking.**

I slid it back to him and looked towards him as he slipped the paper into his bag. He smiled and nodded before gently taking my hand in his and rubbing circles in my palm. I took a deep breath and relaxed. I would see how the rest of the day played out before saying anything or making any decisions.

Edward walked me to Government before leaving for Gym. And now because I was alone I let my thoughts drift to the note in my locker. I wasn't sure what to believe anymore. I mean I hoped, God how I hoped. But if there was one thing my mother had taught me with her continued absence in my life it was that hope set you up for a world of disappointment. But would he disappoint me? Could he? I didn't think so.

My mind was still going through all these thoughts up until dinner. Edward sat next to me through Trig and Spanish still holding my hand and rubbing circles in my palm. He could tell something was bothering me but knowing me as well as he did he left me to it knowing I would tell him when I was ready.

Lunch started off in exactly the same way until I went to pay for my tray of food. Edward and I walked together to lunch, he got his tray and paid first then as I approached the lunch lady, she smiled before handing me another red rose. I stared at her in shock.

"I was told to hand this to you and to also tell you that your lunch had already been paid for." I nodded numbly and took the rose making my way over to our usual table. I sat down, my face expressionless.

"Hey Bellsie, tell Rose to go on a…." He broke off when he saw me pick up the rose and note. The handwriting was the same, the words flowed with the same beauty and majesty as it predecessor.

_With the start of each new day_

_I find myself thinking of you,_

_In the middle of my busy day_

_My mind wanders and I think of you._

_Out of nowhere I see your smile,_

_Hear your laugh and I think of you._

_Life is beautiful because I fall in love all over again_

_Each time I think of you._

And I knew. I knew because I felt it too. Of course I did, I felt it every time he was near me, every time he touched me.

I stood up and everyone at the table looked at me confused except for… Alice. Of course she would know. Nothing gets past her. Taking a deep breath I grabbed Edwards hand and pulled him with me out of the cafeteria.

"Bella?" he questioned. I stopped when we were out of eye and ear shot of the rest of the school. I turned and placed my finger over his lips before he could speak. I looked into his beautiful green eyes, took a deep breath and asked the thing I was desperate to know.

"You?" I questioned in barely a whisper, holding up the note. His expression didn't change but his eyes studied my face, looking for something. Finally his hands came up from his sides to take mine gently. He looked at me like it was the first time he had ever seen me and let one word slip past his lips,

"Yes" I let out the breath I was holding in a huff. He continued to speak and I listened like I was hearing his voice for the first time.

"Isabella Swan, I believe I have loved you since the moment I saw you when we were 1 year old and I have been waiting for my brain to catch up with my heart and finally tell you that I can't stand to live another day without you by my side. I love you sweet girl"

I stared at him, the tears filling my eyes obscuring my vision. I blinked to clear my eyes so I could see him clearly and felt them roll down my face.

"Oh Edward!" I exclaimed and I threw myself at him, my arms wrapped around his neck and his responded by wrapping around my waist. We stayed embracing each other for an immeasurable amount of time while I whispered fervently in his ear.

"I love you too, Oh God Edward! I love you too!"

It was only when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch did we break apart. Tears were flowing freely now down my face and Edward wiped them away with his thumbs. He grinned at me, the biggest grin I had ever seen on Edward and then his hands captured my head. I could only stare at him as his eyes locked onto mine and everything we had felt in the last half an hour poured between us making my heart lighter than it had ever been.

"Bella, my love, I wish I could stay here forever with you, But unfortunately our education is calling for us." I chuckled lightly; my hands were gripping his upper arms as his still held my face.

"So until we can be alone again I'll leave you with a reminder of my love for you" and before I knew what was happening his lips were on mine. It was like nothing I had ever experienced, as our lips battled for dominance my body pressed against his trying to get impossibly closer to him, his hands travelled down my arms and came to rest on my waist. He crushed me closer to him and my arms wrapped around his neck, I played with the hair at the base of his neck as a million emotions ran through me. It was everything you hear about and more. Fireworks exploded around us, my stomach clenched and then released to the feeling of a thousand butterflies pounding my insides. Blood boiled in my lips as Edwards tongue ran along them, asking permission which I happily gave him.

It was though I was living my whole life in 30 seconds, I saw everything, Edward waiting at the altar, sitting on Esme's porch swing with him, watching our children playing, lying next to a grey haired Edward, still as beautiful as ever. Our entire lives lay out before us with nothing to stop us.

Finally we broke away staring at each other. The intensity broke as we laughed and after pecking my lips once, twice, three more times Edward tucked me into his side and together we walked to biology. We arrived a few minutes after the bell and after apologising for our tardiness took our seats. It took me a few seconds to realise that there was something waiting for me on the table as I found I couldn't take my eyes off of Edward. He loved me! He actually loved me! His eyes locked on mine and my heart stopped. His expression was one of fury. I looked around in confusion to see where Edward's scowl was directed and noticed the small round box sat on the table. Unsure of what it could be I reached over and read the card attached to the top, and then snatched my hand back quickly as though it had burned me. Edward looked at me questioningly. I scowled at the box and pushed it toward him. His scowl matched mine as he read the card,

_Isabella, I'm thinking of you on valentine's night,_

_You are so hot, so are so fine,_

_Oh won't you please say you're mine?_

_From Mike_

Edwards's fist clenched turning the notes into a tight ball and then flicked it into the back of Mike's head, where he sat on the other side of the classroom. Mike looked around just in time to see Edward pull me gently to him and press his lips firmly to mine, and it didn't matter that we were in a classroom full of our classmates or that this would be the cause of gossip for the next couple of weeks, I responded just as enthusiastically. We broke away when we heard a throat being cleared and both of us grinned at Mr Banner. He frowned but didn't say anything. The same couldn't be said for the rest of our classmates however. At once they broke out into whispered conversation as soon as Mr Banners back was turned, sneaking glances at us every so often. Mike however gawped, his expression looking like he was having a heart attack. Edward chuckled as he noticed him and picked up the box of chocolates flinging them back across the room at him. We were still laughing as we met back up after last period. Walking together toward the parking lot the stares followed us, but feeling Edwards hand clasped in mine made me completely uncaring about them. As we approached Edwards Volvo to see our 4 best friends staring at us with knowing grins on their faces, I couldn't help but let the happy smile on mine overtake my whole body and make me kiss Edward right then and there.

Emmett and Jasper wolf whistled while rose and Alice squealed with happiness. I felt like Edward and I had been blind until today, obviously everyone else had clearly seen we were in love if our parent's reaction was anything to go by. As we did every other day I drove home and waited for Edward to pick me up and take me to his to do our homework. Today though instead of going straight to his room, he dragged me through to the kitchen where Esme and Carlisle were making dinner.

"Mom, Dad" Edward called still grasping my hand. They turned and beamed at us,

"Hi kids, what's the matter?" Carlisle asked

"Absolutely nothing" Edward replied "I'd just like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Miss Isabella Swan" I grinned at the word even as the blush crept into my face and Carlisle and Esme were stunned into silence for a split second. When the words finally sank in Esme screamed and threw her whisk into the sink before pulling the both of us into a bone crushing hug.

"Oh finally!" she exclaimed "I'm so happy!" It seemed that was all she could say as her emotions over took her and she started to sob happily, breaking away to grab a tissue. Carlisle hugged us both too beaming before congratulating us and sending us on our way so he could calm his wife.

My dad's reaction was just as loud and happy. He hugged me tightly, tears in his eyes and muttering about his little girl growing up before shaking Edwards hand and threatening him with violence if he ever hurt me, though only half jokingly.

And so our relationship got off to the best start and Edward already just by loving me and wanting me was making me the happiest I had ever been.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Not everyone shared our family's views though. I was hardly the only person to have noticed how stunningly handsome Edward was and he had more than his fair share of admirers, not that he had ever noticed. They noticed though, when we got together and apparently they didn't like it. Whether it was because we were so obviously in love and they were jealous or because them simply didn't like me, two girls in particular were determined to split us up, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory. We had been in school together since kindergarten but we had never gotten along. They were the popular girls and we kept to ourselves more comfortable in our group of 6. The trouble with them started around a week after Edward and I got together. I was walking toward Spanish alone while Edward went to the bathroom and turned a corner to see Jessica and Lauren leant against their lockers. Sighing I sped up and kept my head ducked down, I should have known it wouldn't work though,

"Hey Bella?" Jessica said as I approached. Looking up I noticed the unattractive scowls on both their faces and immediately got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"What's up Jess?" I asked hoping to get this over with quickly.

"We just wanted to know how you did it?" she replied

"Did what?" I asked annoyed

"Caught Edward in your claws" Lauren sneered "No one in their right mind would actually want to date you but you've obviously deluded him, first Mike and now Edward. Are you into witchcraft or something?" I stared at them in disbelief, not knowing what I had done to them to warrant this. Angry tears filled my eyes and clouded my vision as I took a deep breath to try and defend myself. My hands curled into fists but before I could start shouting, a warm arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me close. I recognised the touch at once as it shot through my veins like electricity and I curled into his chest, breathing in his scent to calm myself.

"Girls" he said, his velvet voice dark with anger "Would you care to explain why Bella was about to rip out your hair?" he asked. They scoffed while fluttering their eyelashes as if it was attractive and I stared up at him. Was I really about to do that? The answer… probably if they had provoked me anymore.

"Like she could have got close" Lauren scoffed. But we were already walking away. I stayed tucked into Edward's side clutching his shirt until we had turned a corner and the tears had gone from my eyes.

"Baby are you ok?" he asked taking my face in his hands and kissing my forehead. I nodded and leant against him

"They got to me, I know I'm not good enough for you" I whispered. He forced me to look into his eyes.

"Never believe that Bella, if anything I'm not good enough for you. You're too good and pure and beautiful. I love you baby more than I thought possible and that will never lessen, only grow with each minute I am with you, I love you!" he exclaimed, laying his soul bare.

"I love you too" I whispered and pressed my lips to his.

It was hard, there was no doubting that, to accept just how much competition I had. A daily struggle to prove to everyone that we were in this for the long haul. But finally a month after we had started dating it seemed like the message had sunk in. Especially when Jessica approached me in the locker room after gym one Friday, Lauren was nowhere to be seen and so I presumed she had run off to fix her hair or apply another layer of foundation.

"Hey Bella" Jess said rather sheepishly

"Jess" I replied not looking at her

"Look Bella, I want to like apologise, what we did wasn't nice. I'm sorry" she said in a rush

"Apology accepted" I told her finally turning to look at her.

"Thanks, Hey you want to walk to the parking lot together?" she asked as we walked out of the locker room.

"Well actually Edward should be waitin…" but Edward wasn't waiting like he usually was. I shrugged it off figuring he had been held back for some reason and took Jessica up on her offer, I doubted I would ever be friendly with her but a truce between us would make our lives a lot easier. It was an uncomfortable silence as we walked up the corridor. I bit my tongue every time I went to make conversation not wanting to seem too friendly.

"So where so you think Edward is?" she asked finally "Isn't he usually waiting for you?"

"Yeah" I replied "I guess he got held back or somethi…2 but I cut off as we rounded the corner

"Something alright" Jessica said as I stood, my mouth open in shock and my chest ripping in two. Edward stood halfway down the corridor, his back against the lockers and Lauren pressed firmly against him, her lips attacking his.

My heart broke as my breathing turned into gasps, I wanted to run, to turn and get away from that place as fast as possible but my feet were glued to the floor. All I could see was her lips against his.

And even as I watched tears obscuring my vision, Edwards hands came up to rest on her shoulders and … push her away, firmly. I stood my breathing calming and watched as he shoved her and she stumbled backwards. I had never seen Edward so angry; he stood straight and wiped his mouth on his shirt before raising his voice and shouting in a tone that would scare a lion,

"WHAT. THE. HELL. LAUREN!" Even Lauren looked taken aback at his tone and took a step backward. "You know perfectly well that I am with Bella and yet you feel it appropriate to force yourself on me? Where is your self-respect? I love Bella with my heart and soul. Did you really think I would prefer you? You need to grow up! I have never and will never want you. I will never want anyone but Bella; we are going to be together forever. Once day I am going to marry her and make her the mother of my children. Get it into you head. I Love. Bella"

He finished his rant leaving Lauren, Jess and myself with open mouths. God how I loved this man. Jess ran forward to comfort Lauren and I realised what had happened. They had set us up. Edward's head snapped around to me as he saw Jess and stared at me. His beautiful emerald eyes were filled with tears and in them I could see the panic and desperation so clearly running through his body.

"Bella." He mouthed my name "Bella, please listen to me, I, I, this isn't what.. they, they. I didn't." He couldn't get anything out clearly. Wondering how much I had seen. My feet finally unstuck and I walked forward and straight past Edward. From my peripheral vision I saw his face crumple and as much as I wanted to embrace him and take that look of pain off of his face forever, I needed to do something first. I came to a stop in front of Lauren where she stood frozen. Jess was trying desperately to pull her out of the school, but with one glare from me she dropped Laurens arm and ran. Lauren slumped against the lockers clearly still reeling from Edwards's rejection but as soon as he eyes focused on me, she stood up and glared.

I didn't give her a chance to speak as I pulled back my right hand and slapped her. She covered her cheek with her hand and hit my hand away, causing it to rebound off the lockers. I felt something crack but didn't let the pain register. Instead I fixed Lauren with my hardest glare,

"Come near my boyfriend again and you will wish you had never been born" I said through gritted teeth before turning on my heel to Edward. Pride filled his face but as I looked into his eyes they were filled with apprehension. I smiled gently at him wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Hey relax, I heard everything. I know you didn't so anything" I felt his body slump as the tension left it and he let out the breath he was holding. His arms embraced me and he buried his face in my hair

"Thank you love, I really don't deserve you" I shook my head against his chest laughing lightly before breaking away and inspecting my hand. I touched my middle knuckle and hissed in pain. Edward carefully lifted my hand to inspect it before kissing it so gently it didn't hurt at all.

"I think you've broke you're knuckle love, Come on we'll go and see my Father." I grimaced but let him steer me out of the school, lovingly tucked into his side.

"What about my truck?" I asked him

"I'll ask Jasper to drive it home for you. Rose can follow him" I nodded as we reached the Volvo were our family and friends waited.

"There you are, what took you so long?" Rose asked

"Oh nothing much, Lauren kissed Edward so he pushed her off and screamed at her then I slapped her and broke my knuckle" I said holding up my throbbing hand. They all looked at me shocked before Emmett and Jasper cheered and congratulated me. While Alice and Rosalie searched the parking lot, no doubt looking for Lauren and Jessica to give them a piece of their minds.

"Yes, so if you don't mind I need to get her to Dad. Jazz will you drive her truck home?" Jasper nodded and I passed him my keys.

We reached Edwards house 20 minutes later. He opened my door and helped me out, careful not to aggravate my hand.

"Dad?" he called as we walked into the living room.

"Coming Son" Carlisle called back and was downstairs not 2 minutes later. After inspecting my hand he confirmed Edwards's suspicions and fitted me with a brace.

"you'll need that for around a month but if it's still hurting in a week we'll x-ray you just to check things over" I smiled

"Thanks Carlisle, for not making me go to the hospital" he and Edward chuckled, the same crooked grin on both their faces and I blushed.

I spent the rest of the night with Edward and the Cullens minus Alice who was having dinner with Jasper. Later once we had watched a movie in his room, lay on the bed with his arms wrapped around me and his mouth placing kisses up and down my neck (With the door open – Esme and Carlisle's rule) Charlie arrived and ate dinner with us.

Before Charlie and I headed home Edward held me close and kissed me goodbye ensuring that I spent the car ride home lightheaded.

Charlie laughed as I stumbled getting out of the cruiser

"That boy's good for you Bella" he said "Minus the broken knuckle, I've never seen you this happy" I grinned and hugged Charlie

"Not many Dad's would admit that. Thank you Daddy. I am really, really happy" He hugged me back and then stepped inside and moved straight over to his chair in from of the T.V. I smiled as my dad's set ways and went up to my room.

Unsure of what to do for the rest of the night I got out my old battered copy of Wuthering Heights and began to read. It was dark when I next looked up and the time on my bedside clock shocked me. It was past midnight. Moving slowly so I wouldn't wake Charlie I went to the bathroom and got changed awkwardly thanks to my new brace.

I very nearly screamed when I got back to my room and saw a dark silhouette climbing through my bedroom window. That is until I recognised the miss of bronze hair highlighted in the moonlight.

"Edward" I whisper shouted "What are you doing!?" he straightened up, a triumphant grin on his face

"Visiting my girlfriend" he said pulling me close to his chest. I giggled and reached onto my tiptoes to kiss him.

"Yes, but how?"

"Well my family is asleep and I was restless. I needed to see you, I'll have to leave before dawn but we have all night" I grinned and pulled him onto my bed.

"We're breaking our parents trust here you know" I told him and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. He sighed and used his thumb to release my lip.

"I know and feel guilty but we aren't going to do anything, we're waiting and I just want to be around you all the time." I smiled and leaned my head on his chest.

"Me too" It wasn't long before Edward placed a light kiss on my lips and we drifted off to sleep.

I woke a few hours later to Edwards phone beeping. He startled awake and shut it off quickly.

"I need to go sweetheart, I'll see you at my house later. I love you" he whispered and kissed me deeply before climbing out of my window onto the tree outside.

"I love you too" I said quietly before drifting back to sleep, a permanent smile on my lips.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Lauren and Jessica didn't really bother us after that, only glaring when they thought we weren't looking, but as we approached the middle of April they were the least of our worries. It was a Saturday and as usual I was at the Cullens. Edward, Emmett, Alice and I were sat on the porch with a drink of lemonade when Rosalie's car pulled into the drive. They had phoned earlier in the day to say they would be late and ever since we had been worried. Alice had been the one to talk to Jasper but as soon as they had gotten into the conversation her face fell. Jasper sounded off and when Alice got a bad feeling it usually turned out to be justified. And now as he and Rosalie stepped out of the car we knew she had been right.

Rosalie's hair was scraped back into a ponytail and she has no makeup on. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and looking to Jasper, his were exactly the same. Alice jumped up as soon as she saw the tears roll down Jaspers cheeks and ran to embrace him.

"Baby, what's the matter?" she asked stroking his face softly

"Ou.. Our Grandma died" he sobbed. I gasped and ran to hug rose who had started to break down too. She cried onto my shoulder until her sobs had slowed somewhat.

"Oh guys. I'm so sorry!" they nodded and came to sit down on the porch with us as Esme ran out of the house. Without stopping she ran to embrace Jasper and Rosalie. Esme was crying silent tears and the two of them clung to her. They sank to the floor still hugging and simply sat and cried. I sank into Edwards's side and cried as well. We had been close to Mrs Hale, always welcome for a chat or for Dinner. I couldn't believe she was gone, and what about rose and Jasper? Where would they live now?

As if she was reading my mind Esme began to talk to them while she stroked their hair lovingly.

"Carlisle rang me, he's sorting everything out for you, don't worry about a thing. We'll sort the f..f, funeral for you ok? I don't want to have to stress about anything"

"Thank you Esme" Jasper said quietly "We need to speak to our social worker. I'm hoping they'll let us keep the house, Rose isn't far off 18. And I can get a job to pay the bills." Jasper said so quietly I believed he was speaking to himself.

"No, No, No." Esme began "You're coming to live here. You are children still and you shouldn't have to take on that kind of responsibility. We want you here."

Rosalie began to sob again and hugged Esme tighter

"Thank you so much Esme"

I remained curled up in Edwards arms for a while longer just sat on the porch comforting each other and thinking. The next few weeks would be hard but together, as a family and friends we would get through this and come out stronger than ever.

Mrs Hale's funeral took place a week later in the local church. The Hale family was only a small one to begin with and now with the passing of Rose and Jaspers Grandmother there was only 3 of them left, Rosalie, Jasper and their great Aunt Helen. Helen was a frail woman but had managed to travel up from Seattle for her sister's funeral. Rosalie and Jasper sat with her in the front pew, each of them holding one of Helens hands and mourning. On the other side of the church, Edward, the Cullens, Charlie and I sat with a few other people from around Forks who knew Mrs Hale.

I didn't really listen to the preacher, not finding any real comfort in his words about heaven and eternal life. Instead I sort my comfort from the one place I knew I would always find it. Edward. He sat on my left side with his right arm wrapped around my waist and pulling me close. My left hand covered his when my right stretched out to hold Charlie's hand. I had only been to 1 other funeral in my life and then my 6 year old self didn't really understand and already I didn't want to go to anymore. Seeing so many people in pain had hard and knowing there was nothing I could do to really help was harder.

I noticed Esme and Carlisle go to sit with Rosalie and Jasper. Esme pulled them close while Carlisle held Helen's hand, offering them comfort the only way they could at that moment.

Later on at the Cullens the adults sat in the living room in quiet conversation while the rest of us settle downstairs in the games room. I was staying over for Rosalie and Jasper's first night living in the Cullens house hoping it would help them to feel more comfortable.

"How are you guys?" I asked quietly, snuggling into Edward's chest with his arms wrapped around me. Jasper stayed quiet he had his head in Alice's his lap and she was running her fingers through his hair. I wasn't entirely sure he was awake. Rose however was curled up on the armchair, her eyes wide and staring. She shook her head slightly and looked at us.  
" I'm OK I think. At least I will be, thank guys, for everything you've been doing. We couldn't have done this without you" smiling at her I nodded once and leant back into Edward to watch the movie.  
Later, I was lay down with Edward and drifting off to sleep as the movie reached its climax, when I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. Curious I glanced over from my place on the floor to see Rose stand up and dragging her blanket with her, move over to the couch were Emmett lay snoring. So slowly so that she wouldn't wake him she climbed on next to him and pressed herself up to he's sleeping form and as she rested her head against his chest I swear I saw his arms wrap around her and pull her closer.  
For the first time in a week I smiled a real smile and tucked myself closer to Edward surrendering to my dreams.

Alice was the first to wake the next morning but it was her squeal of excitement as she spotted Rose and Emmett on the couch together that woke the rest of us. I stared bleary eyed over to the couch as Emmett stared at Rose surprise coloring his face. She smiled back sheepishly before saying loudly  
" Bella? Tell Emmett to go on a date with me" I grinned sleepily before doing just that, Emmett's answering grin could have lit the room. He didn't say anything he simply pulled her closer and kissed her. I smiled again and then turned to bury my face into Edwards's chest.  
No one was surprised by Emmett and Rosalie's relationship but it did cause a problem for Carlisle and Esme. They now had two couples living under the same roof and another who was there more often than not and so when they had to leave for the weekend to attend a doctor's conference in Seattle they sat us all down to go over the rules.  
"Now children" Esme began "We're trusting you this weekend. We know you're growing up and taking new steps together but Carlisle and I need to know that you'll be safe while were gone. Now we know there's nothing much we can do about you sleeping in the same rooms aside from locking you in them but as Edward has been sneaking out to Bella's for the past month I doubt even that would stop you" I gasped and blushed furiously well Edward stared at them disbelievingly. We had no idea that they knew it.  
" So can we trust you to be sensible?" She asked and we all nodded. " Okay so that's the big one out of the way the rest are fairly obvious and simple, no parties, no alcohol, no drugs got it?" We'll nodded again and Esme smiled before grabbing Carlisle's hand and pulling him out of the room. My blush was finally fading so I lifted my head up to look at Edward. He smiled down at me and kissed me gently, this weekend was going to be fun.

"Goodbye Esme, goodbye Carlisle. Have a good trip" I shouted as they drove down the drive and out of sight. It was finally Friday afternoon and after stopping at mine to collect my things after school I had said goodbye to Charlie (he was being amazingly calm about me staying at Edwards with Carlisle and Esme gone) and drove up to the Cullens house. Now as Esme and Carlisle's car disappeared in a cloud of dust we all ventured back inside to order a pizza and watch a movie  
" let's play truth or dare!" Emmett shouted as the movie finished Alice and Edward agreed immediately but Rose and Jasper and I hesitated looking at each other warily before finally giving him.

Getting into a circle on the floor, Emmett began  
" Bella, truth or dare?" I groaned, of course he would pick me first. I mumbled "truth" before ducking into Edward's side afraid of what was to come.  
"Boring! OK have you and Eddie boy done it yet?" I blushed. Hard. While the others laughed. Even Edwards's chest was moving as he suppressed his chuckles. I looked up at him incredulously and hit his shoulder with my recently released from its brace hand.  
"No" I mumbled to the floor. Emmett laughed again and I glared " Right, my turn" I said " Emmett truth or..."  
"DARE" he screamed.  
" fine, I dare you to call Jessica Stanley and ask her out enthusiastically" Emmett continued to grin but I could feel the heat of Rose's glare and turned to smiled apologetically at her. Emmett meanwhile already had his mobile phone on loud speaker. It was ringing  
" Hello?" Jessica's voice called out  
" Hey sexy" Emmett began and already we had to smother our laughter  
" Who is this? Is it Mr. Goldstein again? Leave me alone you perve!" She shouted. Alice was on the floor now a pillow covering her mouth as the laughter over took her  
"No Jess, it's Emmett, Emmett Cullen. I just wondered if you wanted to go out tomorrow?" Her answering squeal caused me to put my hands over my ears and for Emmett to hold the phone away from him,  
" Yes, yes, yes" she shouted" but what about Rosalie?" She asked finally remembering he was supposed to have a girlfriend  
"Ah well you see, she was just too much for me, you know in bed" he grinned and winked at Rose. Somehow I didn't think Emmett's reply would match mine if I asked him my previous truth.  
"Oh, OK, right" Jess replied sounding flustered "so where and when do you want to meet? She asked  
"How about never o clock at the not gonna happen restaurant" and then he hung up. Finally releasing our laughter the room rang for a while until we had calmed down  
" priceless" Jasper said pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. The game carried on steadily with the dares getting worse as it continued until finally Edward called time as Emmett dared me to drive to Mike's house and streak passed it until he noticed me. For that Edward earned himself a heart stopping kiss from me and a glare from Emmett. He got over it quickly though and when we realized how late it was made our way to our respective bedrooms. I was nervous, so nervous that it felt like someone had changed 1000 butterflies in my stomach. Sure Edward had been staying in my room for the past two months but this was different, for one we were alone in the house or without parents at least, and second neither of us had come in through the window. Edward led me into his room and shut the door behind us, another sign of how different it was.  
"Hey, are you ok love?" He asked pulling me into his embrace. I nodded against his chest and took a deep breath.  
" I'm going to go and get changed ok?" I said. He nodded and kissed me as I grabbed my bag and headed to his ensuite. Once there I took a few deep calming breaths and began my nightly routine. It was when I searched my bag for my pyjamas that I realised my mistake in letting Alice pack for me. My searching hands came across something blue and lacy. I held it up to the light before the fully realizing it was meant to be slept in or I should say worn to bed. Clearly Alice had the same suspicions as me about tonight and the thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. Though not in fear as I thought it would be, it was more like anticipation. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to take that step with Edward but actually doing so, trusting him with my very being, letting him see my every flaw was easier said than done. And so I had a decision to make. Be brave and wear what Alice had picked or chicken out and ask Edward for a t-shirt and boxers as I had so many times before when I had forgotten my nightclothes. I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a pep talk before undressing laugh and as quickly as possible I slipped on the lacy teddy. I looked up at myself again once it was on and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't as bad as I had thought. Sure it was too short and too see through but tastefully so. The capped sleeves rested on my shoulders were covered in a delicate lace. The lace continued down the neckline and I swallowed loudly when I realize just how low the neckline was. A band of silk ribbon ran just under my chest and then gave way to the sheer see through material. Finally another band of the lace ran along the bottom of the teddy just covering the matching panties. No it wasn't as bad as I had thought but it was bad enough. I took one more deep breath before opening the bathroom door stepping out into Edwards's room. He was lay on his bed with a pair of loose jogging bottoms on, his chest bare and his eyes closed. It was a great tribute to his face that it kept my attention away from his body. He heard the bathroom door shut and opened his eyes to look at me. And immediately I knew I had chosen correctly as he sat up and in a blindingly fast motion and his jaw dropped.

I blushed and tugged at the bottom of the teddy.  
"Erm, Alice packed my bag and erm, well there was nothing else" I stuttered quietly. He nodded and swallowed convulsively. Slowly I made my way to the bed and climbed under the covers, he seemed to relax when he couldn't see as much of my skin and leant over to kiss me.  
"Bella, my love you look beyond beautiful. You take my breath away" he whispered against my lips. I smiled at him and kissed him back fiercely. Then in a move so bold I surprised myself I kicked the covers down to our feet. Distracted as he was by our kisses he didn't notice until we broke away. His eyes travelled slowly down my body and his hands followed, they ran down my cheeks moving to my neck and tracing the vein there, his touch was as light as a butterfly's wing and sent shivers of desire through me. He finally began breathing again as his hand coasted down my side, skimming the sides of my breasts. His breath came in pants and mine soon matched his as his hand ran down my leg. Thankful that I had remembered to shave my legs I grabbed his head and pulled his lips to mine. He responded enthusiastically his lips fighting with mine. And I grasped at his hair breathing him in. I couldn't get enough of this. I never would. Edward's hands were everywhere, on my neck, in my hair and trying to find purchase on my body. Eventually we broke away panting hard. Edward hovered over me, supporting his weight on his arms and smiled gently at me.  
" I love you" I said fervently  
" I love you too" he said kissing my nose. Gently he let his arms relax and rested his head on my chest. "I love the sound of your heartbeat" he whispered. I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair. I was overwhelmed with the love I held for this man and had to take a moment to try and control my emotions.  
Edward's head moved a few minutes later, his nose skimming along my exposed skin. I felt the blush rise up through my chest and into my cheeks and once again my breathing picked up. Edward's lips took the place of his nose and he left a trail of fire wherever he went. I pulled him up with all my strength as my emotions over took me and crashed my lips to his.  
Before I knew what I was doing and before Edward had time to react I brought my legs up, making room for him between them and hooked my toes into his joggers and began to move them down his legs. The Edward finally realized what was happening and caught hold of my legs before I could get them any further. He pulled his lips gently from mine and looked at me incredulously.  
" Bella?" He questioned, I ducked my head and blushed.  
"Please Edward" I asked looking into his sparkling green eyes. He stared at me for a solid minute, searching my face for any sigh of indecision.  
"Please" I whispered again "make love to me" he responded by pressing his lips to mine  
"God I love you Bella, are you sure?" He asked and I loved him even more for asking  
"Positive" I replied pulling him close and moving my legs back to their previous task. I lost a lot of my awareness in the minutes that followed; all I could feel was Edward's touch and the slip and slide of the lace as Edward pulled the teddy over my head. We took each other to new heights and learned every inch of each other's bodies that night. And as we connected in body I felt our soul's fuse into one. Edward was and my soul mate, really and truly.

I woke the next morning to the rare Forks sunlight streaming through Edward's window wall. My head was resting on Edwards's chest and my left arm was draped across his waist. His arms were wrapped securely around me and he slept with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but be a little smug about how perfect last night had been. I lay with my chin on his chest and watched him, feeling his chest rise and fall. Eventually his eyes fluttered and opened, piercing me with their gaze. I was breathless, Edward's eyes had always be beautiful their green was the most amazing I had ever seen, but Edward eyes in the morning were like nothing I had ever seen before. The sparkled like a hundred emeralds. He ran his hand down my cheek and across my swollen lips.  
"Good morning beautiful. I love waking up next to you" I smiled and moved closer to him pecking his lips  
"Mmm, me too" I replied moving my fingers up and down his chest. He caught my hand as it moved lower and cocked his eyebrow at me.  
"What can I say? I'm insatiable" I said, my confidence still burning wildly. He grinned and I moved quickly to straddle him and kiss his lips firmly. He didn't put up any more resistance, simply chuckled and flipped us over.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**December 13th 2003**  
"No homework tonight guys have fun at the dance" Mr. Barnett said as the bell rang him at the end of biology. Excited chatter broke out as everyone gathered their things and made their way to last period. I groaned and dropped my head to Edward's chest he chuckled and kissed the top of my head  
"Don't worry love. It'll be fun and I promise I won't let you go all night" I smiled at that and kissed him before ducking into the locker room.

It was Friday and all anyone could talk about was the Christmas dance taking place the next day. I was being forced to go even though I couldn't walk without falling never mind dance. Alice and Rosalie had dragged me to Seattle two weekends ago to get our dresses and now I was trying to mentally prepare myself for the hours of primping and preening Alice was going to put me through. I went straight home after school, telling Edward that Uncle Billy was coming over and so I had to get dinner started. This was untrue though and I felt awful as he kissed me goodbye to lying to him. But this was something I couldn't tell him just yet, not until I was entirely sure. I reached into my bag as the door shut behind me and pulled out the pharmacy bag. Taking a deep breath I made my way upstairs.  
With shaking hands I hit the speed dial 2 on my phone and held it up to my ear. If  
"Hi Bella, how's dinner going?" Alice's tinkling bell like voice said over the phone  
"A.A..Alice" I sobbed as soon as I heard her voice,  
"Bella?! Bella what's going on what's the matter?" She asked panicked.  
" Alice, listen. I need you to come over, Rose as well but don't tell Edward. Please, I need you" I said as the tears roll down my cheeks.  
" I'm on my way" Alice said and hung up. I drop my phone and sank down my bedroom wall wrapping my arms around my legs.

Not 10 minutes later I heard two pairs of feet running up my stairs. The bedroom door opened and I looked up through my tears at the panic faces of my two best friends.  
"Bella?" Alice asked as they came to sit next to me "What's the matter? Is everything OK? Charlie? Billy?" I shook my head as more tears fell "Bella please, you're scaring us" and Rose said wrapping an arm around me. My sobs lessened slowly and I took a deep breath  
"I'm pregnant" I whispered

Silence was all that followed for a few minutes as I studied my fingernails and then two pairs of arms wrapped around me offering the strength and love. I hugged them back until my tears had stopped altogether.  
"How do you feel Bella?" Rose asked.  
"Sick" I said" I don't really know how to feel, I never imagined this I'm only 17. What am I going to do?"  
"Well firstly, I'm going to thing ring Edward and tell him that we're staying here so he can't sneak over tonight and then you're going to put your comfortable pyjamas on and were going to eat junk food and watch trashy movies" Alice said already dialing. I smiled, and this was just another reason I love Alice. No matter what happened she could always think of something to make it better. Rose looked at me as I finally let myself relax  
"Are you OK?" She asked and I nodded slowly  
"I think so, I just have no idea what I'm going to tell Edward, and we've been using protection. I don't know how this happened"  
"Well it's not always effective" Rose said as she held my hand supportively "Have you and Edward ever talked about this?" I nodded  
"Yeah, we've always said we want children but not now, we still have a year of school and then college and Edward wants to go to medical school, I just don't know how we would do this" Rose shushed me as my rant headed towards a full on break down and rubbed soothing circles on my back.  
"Bella you've known Edward since you were one. I've known him for half that time and still I know he's going to be excited about this. And even more than that he loves you and will stand by you no matter what you choose." I relaxed a little, I knew she was right. We would get through this. Together.

Later the evening we were in my room watching a movie but at the same time discussing when would be the best time to tell Edward.  
"I'm going to tell him tomorrow, at the dance. We can have a good night and then I can drop the bombshell" I laughed once without humor and the girls chuckled lightly. "You know what though?" I asked them  
"What?" Alice said, I smiled slightly and looked at them both  
"I'm kind of excited" Alice and Rosalie looked to each other then simultaneously squealed and pulled me into a hug  
"Oh Bella, were so glad. We are too, were going to be Aunties!" I shushed them, aware of Charlie sitting downstairs but grinned  
"Don't get too excited. This isn't just my decision. I need to talk to Edward." Alice snorted  
"Like he's not going to be thrilled as well. Come on Bella, you've seen him around kids he turns into a ball of mush. He's worse than a girl." We all laughed at that knowing how true it was and I felt better. Sure that this was going to be the making of me.

"Alice will you please stop fussing, I'm fine" I complained as she tweaked my hair again. I'd been in her room all day as we got ready for the dance and I had already discovered my favourite thing about being pregnant. Alice refused to put me in heels. She didn't want her niece to be 'harmed by my clumsy nature.' (Alice was convinced I was having a girl but Rose was betting on a boy) We had 10 minutes before we needed to leave and so Alice ushered us out of the room to make our grand entrances.  
Alice's dress was short and white. The skirt stuck out from her waist in a beautifully flowing form. The one shoulder strap was made up of beautiful black flowers which flowed down the dress spreading out at the waist were ribbon of black wrapped around her waist and then continued flowing down the left side of the dress. The look was stunning with her pale skin and ebony hair.  
Rose was no less stunning in her dress. She projected beauty in her long red dress. It flowed down her body like a waterfall and into a small train at the back. A large slit ran up the front so that with every step you would catch a glimpse of her leg, all the way up to her thigh. The top of the dress was ruffled and set with diamante around the voluptuous neckline. The back of the dress was no different; the straps crossed over her back at the top and then gave way to a large expanse of her back showing off her flawless skin.  
I nowhere near matched their beauty but for once I adored my outfit. My dress was a royal blue and floor length. Around my waist ran a wide band of diamantes which continued up my right hand side to create the one shoulder strap. The neckline was daring, falling in a deep v neck.

I watched as Alice descended the stairs first. Jasper stood there waiting and I saw his jaw drop when she stepped into view. I smiled for my two friends happy that they'd found each other and were so clearly in love. He embraced her as she reached the bottom of the stairs and pulled her to the side as Rose made her way down. I honestly thought for a second that Emmett would not be able to close his mouth ever again. His eyes bulged and his arms reached for her before she had even got halfway down. When she did finally reach him he pulled her close and proceeded to kiss her senseless. With a jolt I realised I needed to move and very carefully began to walk downstairs. Every movement I made now was exaggerated, I was determined I would not fall; I had a responsibility to my unborn child to gain control over my clumsy nature.  
It was only when I reached the last few steps that I looked up and got lost in Edward's eyes. If he was speechless, simply staring but his eyes told me everything I needed to know in that moment. He was dressed in a crisp black suit and white shirt with a royal blue tie the exact colour of my dress.  
"God, you are stunning!" He exclaimed pulling me close. I blushed and pulled myself closer to him  
"And so are you"  
We left after Esme had run her camera battery flat, taking a car per couple.

Arriving at the hall where the dance was taking place it was like a winter wonderland. Streamers of baby blue and white hung from the ceiling and Christmas decorations covered the walls, and looking out of the back door's I could see the small garden covered in fairy lights.  
I decided within 10 minutes of being there that dances weren't half as bad when I danced with Edward. We moved together on the dance floor, talking quietly and not letting go of each other. We ate with our friends and then as they made their way onto the dance floor for the last dance, Edward and I walked into the gardens. We walked hand-in-hand, silently down the winding path simply enjoying each other's company and the beautiful scenery around us. We reached a secluded section of the garden and I pulled Edward down onto a bench with me. He smiled and wrapped an arm around me to keep the chill off. Nerves attacked me, now than the night was drawing to a close and I knew what I had to do. Snuggling into Edwards's chest I took a deep breath before speaking  
"Edward?" I asked quietly  
"Yes love?" He answered looking down at me. I smiled gently and sat up, turning my body towards him and grasping his hands before speaking again  
"I need to tell you something" He smiled again and I began to wonder how long that would last for  
"You can tell me anything love" He says running the back of his fingers down my cheek, I took a deep breath  
"Ok, So this is big and scary and life changing but please just listen to me before you say anything OK?" I asked. He took a moment looking at me with worry and curiosity before nodding for me to continue. I squeezed his hands focusing on them and spoke  
"I, I'm pregnant Edward" I said so quietly that I wasn't sure he had heard me until his breath released in a large poof of air. I look back to his face trying to gauge his reaction. All I could see was shock at the moment and so I waited, letting him have a moment to think.  
As I watched the shock melted away from his face leaving a neutral expression  
"Wow" he said "Wow. Yeah this is huge" I didn't say anything I just waited for him to work through his initial reaction. His eyes snapped to mine suddenly and his hands came up to hold my face gently "How is you?" He asked "How are you feeling? Are you sick?" He fired his questions at me quickly making me laugh slightly  
"I'm OK Edward, really, I have a little morning sickness but that passes after a few hours. How are you?" He thought about his answer with his arms wrapped around me for a little while.  
"I think I'm OK. Obviously we need to talk properly but can I be honest?" He asked  
"Of course Edward!" I exclaimed  
"I'm actually kind of thrilled." He said he quietly as if it was his guilty secret. Inside I screamed with joy and my body reacted by wrapping my arms around his neck  
"You've no idea of how happy that makes me, baby I don't want to make any decisions without you but I think we're going to make amazing parents" I said pecking his lips when I finished. He grinned at me and then looked down as his hands folded lovingly over my belly.  
"Parents" he whispered and then grinned my favourite crooked grin "I **know** we are" He said and then proceeded to kiss me senseless.

We decided to save the big talk for the next day and spend the rest of the night with our friends being normal teenagers. Alice and Rosalie were obviously desperate to know our decision; they kept sneaking glances at us about how they couldn't see the joy on our faces was beyond me.  
At the end of the night Edward drove me home and walked me to my front door  
"I love you sweetheart, both of you" he added in a whisper and caressed my stomach gently. I smiled and placed my hands over his  
"We love you too" I said and leant up to kiss him. "Are you coming over tonight?" I asked. His crooked grin appeared again  
"I wouldn't miss it" and he didn't as a couple of hours later he climbed in my window and crawled into my bed. His arms wrapped around my waist and folded gently on my stomach. I sighed and contentment and moved closer to him. He buried his face into my hair and kissed my neck  
"Sleep baby, I'm here I'll always be here" and I drifted to sleep with a smile on my face.

The next day I drove up to the Cullens around midday when my morning sickness had worn off and headed straight for Edward's room after saying hello to Esme and Carlisle. He was lay on his bed reading but shoved the book he was reading under the covers when he heard the door open. Edward smiled when he saw me I got up to hug me. As he got closer though I ducked around him and ran to his bed, grabbing the book just as his arms reached out to grab me. He began to tickle my sides and I laughed and squealed while trying to keep him from getting the book back. We eventually fell onto the bed together and Edwards hands stopped their onslaught. We breathed heavily for a moment before I pulled the book out from between us. I stared at it for a moment before I grinned up at him  
"Fatherhood" I read " you're reading a baby book?" I asked as tears filled my eyes  
"Yes, I want to do this right. Every step of the way" I kissed him resting my head on his chest  
"Where did you even get this?" I asked flicking through the book quickly  
"Carlisle has a few in the library. There a little outdated but they'll do until I can get into Port Angeles"  
This was the reason I knew we could do this. Edward made it all so much easier. I didn't know any other boy of 17 outside my circle of friends who would willingly read a pregnancy book when they found out the girlfriend was pregnant.  
We spent the rest of the day reading the book together and going over what we needed to do.  
"Well first things first we need to book a doctor's appointment to confirm my dates" I said and Edward nodded  
"I have a request about that" Edward said, I looked at him curiously and nodded for him to continue "I'd like Carlisle to be your doctor" he saw my shocked and slightly disgusted expression and continued "Hear me out, I know it may be a little strange but my father is the best doctor I have ever seen and I'm not saying that because he's my dad he truly is. And he won't be actually delivering the baby he will just assist. I would just like him to be there just in case" I thought about it thoroughly before looking to Edward.  
"I get it Edward, I do and I love you for wanting the best for me, for us. But can I tell you how I picture our baby's birth?" He nodded smiling "We're together of course the whole way through. And when he or she finally arrives, I imagine our family and friends coming through the door to see him/her. And in that moment Carlisle isn't a doctor, he's a grandfather seeing his grandchild for the first time. Nothing else is going through his mind. Do you see what I'm saying?" I finished looking up at him. He smiled  
"God I love you" he said "You're so selfless, so loving. Simply perfect. We'll ring round and make some appointments tomorrow then?" I agreed and then moved on to the more urgent matters.  
"We need to tell our parents and the others." I said quietly and he nodded  
"I think we should tell them Christmas day" Edward said and I grinned at him  
"I love it!" I told him "One problem though, Alice and Rosalie already know. Well they know I'm pregnant not what our decision is" He laughed and hugged me tightly  
"Of course they do. OK then we'll tell the others tomorrow and tell our parents Christmas day?"  
"Deal" I said "Now you're baby is hungry" I told him. He laughed and untangled himself from me then pulled me up and led me downstairs.

At lunch the next day Edward and I joined our friends after ringing a doctor's office in Port Angeles and setting an appointment for the following day.  
"Hey guys" Jasper said as we sat down. Alice and Rosalie didn't say anything. They just stared at us waiting. I sighed dramatically trying not to grin  
"Ok, ok, ok I'll tell you, ease up on the death glares ok?" I said to them. Simultaneously they broke into wide grins. Emmett and Jasper gazed at us all as if we had gone mad.  
"Hello? Anybody want to fill us in?" Emmett said waving his arms around. I took a deep breath and leant in closer to them.  
"First promise me that what we are about to tell you goes no further than the 6 of us" They watched me carefully but nodded. Edward took my hand and squeezed it gently  
"Bella and I are having a baby" he said in a whisper.  
Alice and Rosalie broke into squeals, which I quickly shushed them for, and then pulled me into a group hug  
"I am so happy for you" Alice said in my ear as I hugged them and Jasper were still silent, staring at my stomach. I grew more and more self-conscious and wrapped my arms around my self, breaking their concentration.  
"Whoa!" Emmett explained "Whoa! Edward you beast!" the others laughed breaking some of the tension and Jasper looked at us seriously before reaching out to grasp my hand reassuringly,  
"Are you guys ok? I mean this must have been a huge shock" I looked to Edward and we smiled at each other  
"Yeah Jazz, we're really happy. A huge shock is an understatement but it's a shock we're happy about. Truly." Jasper grinned and nodded once  
"then congratulations, you're going to make amazing parents" Edward and I beamed and he pecked my lips.  
"We have decided to tell our parents on Christmas day, so please keep this to yourselves until them" Edward added and the others readily agreed.

I was sat in the kitchen nibbling on a dry cracker to fend off my morning sickness when a knock sounded on the door. When I answered it Edward stood grinning at me. I smiled back before embracing him and resting my head on his chest,  
"Good morning love, how are you feeling?"  
"Ok, I don't feel as sick anymore" I answered as I breathed in his scent.  
"Good. Are you ready?" I nodded and grabbed my backpack before locking up and getting into Edward's car, thanking him as always for holding the door open.

Today was our first appointment at the clinic in Port Angeles and so we were skipping school to drive up. Alice and Emmett were covering for us so school wouldn't ring home, with the promise that we would bring them a picture back from the scan.

It took us an hour to reach the clinic. I checked in and sat in the waiting room clutching Edward's hand nervously. Glancing around the waiting room felt like glimpsing into the future. Scattered around the room were several woman at various stages of pregnancy. One consistent thing I noticed though was the smiles and utter contentment that was so prominent on each of the woman's faces. My own smiles matched theirs as I rested my head on Edward's shoulder, my mind filled with thoughts of our child.  
It was only 20 minutes later that an elderly but smiley nurse called my name. I took a deep breath and stood up. With Edward holding my hand we made our way into the nurse's room and took a seat. She took my details and family history before weighing me and taking my blood pressure. She then asked me to lie on the paper covered bed and lift my shirt. Edward sat beside me grinning  
"Ok so this will feel a little cold" nurse Tara, as she introduced herself as, said as she squirted some of the ultrasound gel on my stomach. I didn't care. We were about to see our baby for the first time.  
We couldn't see the screen at first as the nurse moved the wand around my stomach and took measurements. Edward studied my face as we waited rather impatiently for her to finish and I smiled at him cupping his cheek in my hand. Finally the nurse turned the screen and mine and Edwards heads snapped towards it.  
"Ok, here is the placenta" she started pointing to a dark shape near the edge of the screen "Then this is the embryotic sack and that tiny shape there, that is your baby" she finished pointing to the middle of the screen. I leant forward wonder etched on every part of my face.  
"My baby" I whispered just as Edward said  
"It looks like a peanut" I looked at him and burst into laughter  
"It will for a while sweetheart" I said still chuckling. Tara was trying not to smile as she pressed a few more buttons  
"Well baby has a great heartbeat, very strong and judging by your dates and the size of the embryo I would say you're about 8 weeks along, meaning you're due date will be the 29th July next year. Would you like some pictures?" I nodded still grinning from ear to ear and she left to collect the pictures while I wiped the gel off of my stomach. Before I could pull my top down though Edward pressed his lips to my belly  
"Hello Peanut, I'm your daddy and I love you so very much"  
"Peanut?" I questioned and he shrugged "I just don't want to call him/her `it' for the next 7 months" tears filled my eyes and I ran my fingers through his hair.  
"I love you so much" I said. He sat up and pulled my top down for me before kissing me  
"I love you too" he told me and helped me down off the bed. We stood embracing for a moment until nurse Tara came back into the room with our pictures.  
"Here you are dears, now just schedule another appointment for in about 8 weeks and you're done" with that she handed us our pictures and an information pack as well as my prescription for my prenatal vitamins. By the time we set off back to Forks my head was swimming with thoughts of what was to come.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Just a week later was Christmas Eve and Charlie and I were at the Cullens. We were staying over tonight so that we could spend Christmas day together and my nerves were through the roof.  
"Edward I can't do this, I can't tell them. They're going to be so disappointed,  
"Hey, hey, hey sweetheart calm down, this isn't good for you or Peanut" he caught me as I paced past his bed, pulled me against his chest and sat with his back against the headboard  
"Listen to me baby, you're forgetting one thing, they've been here. Both sets of our parents had children young and they have done wonderfully. They know exactly what we're going through." I nodded folding my hands over Edward's where they lay on my stomach. It did make me feel better to know Esme was only a year older than me when she had Emmett and I had never met a better mother.  
"Ok, I'm ok" I told him "How are we going to tell them?" I asked. He shifted under me and reached across to his bedside cabinet.  
"I was thinking we could give them these" I looked down to see him clutching our stack of scan pictures. "We could put them in envelopes and write on them look" he shuffled through them and pulled one out. Across the bottom of the picture, on the strip of white, he had wrote, in his beautiful cursive handwriting  
Hello Nana Esme,  
Love from Peanut  
I laughed lightly  
"I love it Edward, we can do it for Alice and the others as well. "I began, my excitement creeping up. He nodded enthusiastically  
"See I told you, everything is going to be ok"

We spent that night in the living room eating popcorn and watching a marathon of Christmas movies. When we made our way to bed Edward kissed me firmly outside of the guest room with the promise that he would be with me shortly. I grinned and nodded kissing him once again before closing the door to my room. I had an early Christmas present for him that I needed to prepare for. I was insanely glad at that moment that the Cullens house was so big, big enough that everyone had their own bedrooms (Carlisle and Esme sharing of course) as well as two guest bedrooms.  
I went straight into the ensuite bathroom and got into the shower. I lathered, rinsed and repeated before shaving and buffering every inch of my body. Jumping out I rushed to dry off and blow dry my hair so that my curls were full and cascading down my back. I wasn't a huge fan of makeup but I lined my eyes in black and painted my lips in a blood red lipstick I had leant from Rosalie. Finally I reached into my bag and pulled out the parcel that had arrived in the post a few days ago.  
Alice and Rosalie were bad influences I decided as I took out the two piece lingerie set. I couldn't really blame this one of them though; I had chosen and bought this myself. They had no idea. But ever since I had seen Edward's reaction to that first piece of lingerie I had worn I had wanted to repeat the experience and tonight was the perfect opportunity. Seeing his eyes rake over my body made me feel more alive than anything else. It made me feel like a woman.  
This piece was daring though, more daring that anything I had previously worn and I realised just how daring as I slipped it on quickly. The top started with a strip of red lace around my chest that tied in a bow of ribbon at the center of my breasts and was held up by a thin ribbon making a halter neck. From this ribbon a see through satin fell on either side of my hips down to the top of my thighs leaving the as yet smooth expanse of my stomach bare. The matching thong panties sat low on my hips, coming round to the front and dipping an a small 'v' where the main detail of the panties, a small bow, was tied. The final thing I did was to take out the death traps that were called heels. Now I knew I was being daring, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I slipped them on and tied the red silk ribbon around my foot and up to finish in a bow at the back of my ankle. I grinned at myself in the mirror having to admit that I looked good and now I couldn't wait for Edward to get here. I was sat on the end of the bed when Edward finally did open the bedroom door and slid in silently. Once he had shut the door he turned to survey the room and his eyes immediately snapped to me where I sat, leaning back on my arms, with my legs crossed and smiling at him.  
"Merry Christmas Edward" I said standing up and tottering towards him trying desperately not to trip. His jaw hung slack and his eyes bulged, my stomach clenched in anticipation.  
"Bella" he whispered, swallowing loudly. I stopped an arm's length away from him and reached out to slowly undo the buttons of his shirt. When the fabric slipped off of his arms he seemed to come back to his senses and he stepped forward so that our bodies were pressed together. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he said huskily. I pressed more firmly against him and looked up at him through my eyelashes  
"Want to show me?" I breathed. He nodded and began to walk forward forcing me back towards the bed. Of course I could only manage so long without my clumsy gene and I tripped, Edwards hands shot out though and grabbed my waist to steady me. I grinned at him as he continued walking. I soon felt the bed hit the back of my legs and Edward lowered me gently onto it. My breathing picked up as he began kissing my ankles, working his way up my leg. He began to untie the ribbon to my shoes but I brought my leg up and placed my foot under his chin and forced him to look at me. I shook my head slowly,  
"Those stay on" I said breathlessly and his eyes lit up. For a second I swear I heard him growl before he began his attack of my legs again.  
No words could accurately describe the heights we took each other to that night and as we fell together over the crescendo of pleasure I had never felt more connected to another person or more in love with Edward and I sent a silent thank up to whatever force whether it be God, fate or destiny that brought him to me.

The next morning I woke to soft kisses on my neck travelling slowly onto my chest. I giggled softly and opened my eyes to Edwards's glorious face smiling at me  
"Mmm, someone is friendly this morning" I said grinning  
"Well it seems I can't get this picture of my stunning girlfriend out of my head."  
"I see, would you like a new picture" I asked pulling him on top of me. He kissed me deeply but pulled away before I could take full advantage of sharing a bed with Edward. I grumbled and he chuckled  
"As much as I would love to continue my love, I predict you have about 15 minutes before Alice bounds in here to wake you, and you may want to get dressed before that happens." I sighed but nodded in agreement  
"And what about you? As much as I would prefer you to stay exactly as you are I don't think that others would" he laughed, kissed me again and then climbed off me  
"I'll go back to my room in a second, first I think we need to tidy up" he gestured to the floor where I noticed my lingerie scattered across the floor with the rest of Edwards clothes as well as my shoes which had been removed at some point. I laughed again and jumped out of the bed, with the sheet wrapped around me  
"Well I'll leave you to sort that out. I'm going for a shower. And grinning wildly I made my way to the bathroom, letting the sheet fall as I went. When I looked back over my shoulder Edward was frozen watching me. I giggled and closed the door after throwing a wink his way.

Edward's prediction was correct and Alice burst into my room as I came out of my bathroom after drying my hair. She took one look at my flushed cheeks and wild hair, which even the shower couldn't get rid of, and grinned  
"Good night?" she asked and I blushed nodding quickly. She grinned and then hugged me for no apparent reason  
"Downstairs in 5 minutes missy" she said sternly and then disappeared out the door. Not wanting to get on Alice's bad side I threw my hair into a messy ponytail and put on a pair of clean pyjamas before heading downstairs. I had reached the top of the landing stairs when Edward opened his bedroom door. He smiled brightly when he saw me and waved the stack of envelopes he had hold of. Immediately butterflies started to bounce around in my stomach and the morning sickness that so far this morning hadn't bothered me made its appearance.  
I ran to Edwards's bathroom and hovered over the toilet as my stomach emptied itself. Edward was there the next second holding my bags back and rubbing my back gently. I felt better once I had a drink and brushed my teeth again.  
"Feel better sweetheart?" Edward asked. I nodded and took the envelopes off him, looking at them and breathing deeply  
"I suppose we can't put this off much longer can we?" I asked. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me  
"It'll be ok Bella, I promise"

We reached the living room to find everyone already gathered around the Christmas tree  
"Merry Christmas guys" I said going to sit next to my dad and hugging him. Edward folded himself next to me as Alice started handing out her gifts. It surprised no one that we all had similar squashy packages. Alice always gave clothes without fail. I was however pleasantly surprised to find that along with the usual, more fashionable clothes Alice had discreetly packed some maternity clothes. I threw her a grateful smile which she returned. Along with his clothes Alice had bought Jasper a gold signet ring for which she received a long kiss. After Alice, Rosalie handed out her gifts starting with Emmett, nobody saw what he had received but the playful smirk that he sent Rosalie's way was information enough for us all. Rose handed me my gift next and I thanked her before ripping off the wrapping paper and slowly opening the jewelry box. I gasped and look up at her, tears in my eyes. Nestled snugly in the box was a beautiful silver locket, square in shape. It had engraved on the front a beautiful a wonderful picture of a blossoming tree and when I opened it I realised why. Inside were three frames, clearly meant to be filled with pictures of a complete family,  
"Rose, this is beautiful. Thank you so much" I said, leaning over to hug her,  
"You're welcome Bella" she replied hugging me back before handing out the rest of her gift.  
For Edward she got a collection of new CD's which I could tell he was dying to run off and listen to. Alice nearly screamed the house down when she opened her present and found the Jimmy Choo shoes complete with diamante detail.  
"I love you Rose!" she shouted and Rose chuckled before moving on.  
For her brother Rosalie had produced a voucher for a day of dirt bike racing and Jaspers excited smile was enough to fill the rest of us with a dim rebound of the same excitement. Finally she gave Esme a beautiful blue topaz necklace, Carlisle a set of diamond cufflinks and then proceeded to surprise Charlie with her and Jaspers present. Baseball tickets to watch his favourite team. We continued to hand out gifts to each other which included jewelry for Alice and Rose from Edward and I and I night out for Esme and Carlisle off all of us to go along with the other bits we had bought them.  
Carlisle earned a big kiss off Esme and caused Rosalie and I to burst into tears and hug him along with Jasper when he produced a framed family tree for her to place proudly over the fireplace, including mine, Rosalie and Jaspers names. When we had calmed down Edward and I avoided each other's eyes as we both thought just how soon that would have to be updated.  
Charlie was pleasantly surprised by the new fishing gear Edward and I bought him and even more so by the deep sea fishing expedition Carlisle and Esme had bought him so that he could go and try his new gear out properly. Charlie got me a new camera, something that I realised as soon as I opened it I was entirely grateful for, given all that I would be wanting to record in the coming months. Finally the only gifts to give were mine and Edwards for each other and Emmett's for everyone as he had insisted on going last.  
"Here you go sweetheart" Edward said handing me the small unwrapped ring box. I stared disbelievingly at him and he grinned my favourite crooked grin  
"Don't worry. It's not an engagement ring" he told me as well as the rest of the room who were watching intently. We let out our collective breath together. Slowly I pinched the lid and opened it gasping loudly at the exceptional piece of jewelry  
"Edward, I thought you said this wasn't a..."  
"It's not" he said cutting my off "It's a promise ring" I stared at him waiting for the rest "Bella, I love you, that I have never doubted and someday I want to marry you. But until that day comes when we are both ready I want to promise you that I will love you forever. If you want me" he finished and I beamed at him  
"I will always want you, you never have to doubt that" I said quietly. Edward grinned widely and took the ring out of the box then slipped it onto the ring finger of my right hand. It was truly the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. The white gold band wrapped around my finger splitting before reaching the front, set between the two ends of white gold were two astonishingly green, heart shaped emeralds. The exact same green as Edwards eyes. Those accompanied by the two smaller diamonds made the ring beyond stunning. As we kissed over our promise to each other we heard a loud snort or laughter and turned to stare at Emmett, noticing as we did that the girls in the room seemed to be drying their eyes.  
"Enough of the mushy crap, time for my presents" Emmett all but shouted. Everyone groaned good naturedly and smiled. Emmett's gifts were somewhat of a tradition.  
"They're awesome this year guys" he said and started by throwing Edward his. Opening the small gift box Edward gasped and threw the lid back on quickly. He growled his thanks to Emmett before shoving the box behind his back and scowling. Emmett burst into laughter while the rest of the family ignored them both aware that sometimes Emmett's gifts weren't for sharing. Of course I was curious and so reached behind his back, lifted the lid open and peaked inside. Filling the box to the brim was at least 100 condoms. I snapped the lid shut almost as quickly as Edward had and blushed hard not helping Emmett calm his laughter in the slightest.  
Next to go through the gift ordeal was Rose, again nobody saw what she got but the look she gave Emmett made everyone turn away, looks like that needed to be saved for the bedroom. Esme and Carlisle were next and both chuckled when they opened their gifts. Esme had a throw cushion embroidered with the words 'World's best mom' and Carlisle had a gold desk plaque with the words 'World's best Dad"  
"Why thank you son. I didn't know you cared" Carlisle said setting the room off into more sets of giggles. Next for the spotlight was Jasper. As he ripped into the wrapping paper and pulled out his gift he broke into roars of laughter and as he held up his present we joined him. It was well known in our circle of friends that Japer was a huge history geek. Therefore Emmett had seized the opportunity and bought him a civil war soldier's dress up outfit. After our laughter had died down Emmett handed Alice her present, she tore off the wrapping paper with the enthusiasm of a four year old and finally held up the box in confusion. That didn't last long though as she read the box and a scowl appeared on her face  
"A cure for uncontrolled spending?" she asked fiercely a scowl claiming her expression. The room exploded once more, every one of us knowing exactly why she had got that. Then finally after Charlie had received a shirt with the slogan 'Half chief of police, half ninja' it was my turn. Apprehensively I opened the box and my breath caught and I started to splutter as my eyes took in my gift.  
"Emmett!" I almost screamed and threw the box to Edward to get it away from me. Edward looked into the box curiously and his eyes widened with disbelief  
"Tell me about it!" I muttered. Edible underwear! Honestly. Emmett was unbelievable. Once I had gotten over the shock of Emmett's gift the thought of what I had to do next came back to me and my nerves attacked me again.

Edward was waiting for me outside the bathroom later on when everyone was settled watching one of the many Christmas films playing today and embraced me. I responded in kind and locked my own around his neck. He smiled down at me and pecked my lips.  
"Are you ready to tell them love?" I swallowed loudly but nodded  
"As I'll ever be" I said. He kissed me again and took my hand leading me into the living room.  
"Guy's?" he said as we walked in and took a seat on the couch.  
"Yes son?" Carlisle said once everyone had turned their attention to us, Edward grinned down at me  
"Bella and I have another gift for you all" he announced. They all looked at us curiously. Not giving them time to comment Edward handed them each the envelope with their name on.  
"Ok open them" I said quietly. And so they did. I sank into Edward's side waiting for the explosions. My eyes were locked on Charlie who was staring wide eyed at the picture in his hands. I only looked away when Carlisle spoke.  
"Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice, Could you give us a moment please?" I gulped. The others filed out of the room smiling softly at us. Well at least I knew they were happy with their pictures.  
I stared at our parents biting my lip. Esme looked up from her picture and to my upmost surprise, smiled at us.  
"Oh children! I'm so glad you finally told us!"  
"What?!" Edward and I exclaimed while Charlie stared at Esme incredulously  
"Oh you two! Have you not realised by now that you can't keep anything from a mother? It's written all over you Bella, you're glowing and not to mention you emptied your stomach this morning but you're fine now. And don't think we didn't notice the pregnancy and parenting books disappearing." I stared at her in total shock as Carlisle smiled and nodded pulling Esme closer. Edward and I stared at each other  
"You aren't mad?" I asked them  
"Oh sweetheart, of course we wish you weren't so young but we know how these things can happen. Emmett is the proof but it happened and we can't change it so all we can do is support you and tell you that this isn't going to be easy but we are here to help and support you. We love you." I was crying by the time she finished and got up to hug both her and Carlisle before turning to Charlie.  
"Dad?" I said in a whisper, he looked up from the photo and into my eyes. I don't know what he saw there but whatever it was caused him to let out the breath he was holding.  
"Oh Bella" he sighed "I don't really know what to say, you're my little girl I can't wrap my head around it. You're pregnant?" he asked trying to confirm it for himself. I nodded and sat next to him taking his hand.  
"Yeah dad, about 9 weeks along and I want you to know that we're really, really happy. We understand what we're getting ourselves into, I even caught Edward with a baby book the other day" I said and Carlisle and Esme beamed at their son. Charlie looked at Edward surprised  
"You're really happy?" he asked  
"Extremely" both Edward and I said together  
"Then I'll be there for you as much as I can be" Charlie said and hugged me  
"Thank you daddy" I said "I love you"  
"I love you too kiddo"

I stayed at Edwards again that night while Charlie went home. We were laid on Edward's bed, my head on his chest and his hands running gently through my hair.  
"I can't believe how well that went" I said disbelievingly. Edward chuckled  
"I did tell you love, we have amazing parents"  
"Well 3 of them" I said "I still need to tell my Mom. I doubt she'll be as calm"  
"She'll be ok love. We'll ring her tomorrow and get it over with" I nodded against his chest and closed my eyes.  
"Bella?" he asked quietly  
"Yeah?" I replied, looking up at him  
"I'm kind of hungry" I looked at him in confusion, Esme's Christmas dinners were legendary for keeping you full for days afterward. I understood though as soon as I saw the item dangling from the end of his fingers, the candy underwear Emmett had bought me. I laughed before crawling over him, grabbing them and running into his bathroom, throwing him a wink as I went.

"Hello?" my mother's voice sounded over the phone  
"Hi Mom" I replied  
"Bella! How are you?"  
"I'm great Mom. Actually, I have some news" better to get this over with quickly  
"Really? Well spill" I tried not to laugh at my Mother's childish ways  
"Well Edward and I, we'r... we're having a baby" I finished quietly. Edward sensing my stress wrapped his arms around me. There was silence on the other end of the phone.  
"Mom? Are you ok?" I asked tentatively.  
"A…A baby?" she croaked  
"Yes mom, I'm 9 weeks pregnant and blissfully happy"  
"What does your Father think of this?" she said sharply  
"He's happy for us" I said quickly  
"Happy? Huh I thought he'd go mad"  
"So did I" I said quietly "but what so you think Mom? I know we're young and still have school and college but we can do this" I said in a rush to defend myself  
"I, I'm ok with it I think. Bella of course you should be older and I wish you were, but you're right you can do this. I believe that" tears filled my eyes. This was the most motherly thing Renee had ever said to me. Edward held me tighter  
"Thank you Mom" I said quietly "I love you"  
"I love you too Bella. Can I come and see you soon?" I ran the words through my head a few times before answering  
"What? You want to come to Forks?!"  
"Of course, I need to meet my future son in law" I laughed lightly  
"Sure Mom, we'll sort it out soon. I have to go. I love you"  
"I love you too Bella and congratulations. Bye sweetie" I hung up and turned to hug Edward. We held each other for a few minutes before he swept down to capture my lips.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

"Well, I start on Monday" I said as I climbed into Edward's car. Between my mother's visit and our second doctor's appointment Edward and I had decided that needed to get jobs. Even though Esme and Carlisle made more than enough to support us, something just didn't feel right about taking their money. This was our baby and our responsibility. Edward was against me getting a job at first. His argument was that he could make more than enough to support us working at the hospital with Carlisle and he wanted me to take it easy. But I wanted to do my part and eventually he conceded, and so I started work at Newton's 3 nights a week after school.  
Life continued on for the next couple of months, Emmett finally got his diploma and started at the University of Washington. He had been accepted at Dartmouth but didn't want to leave Rose or the family.  
Soon Valentine's Day was approaching again  
"Oh Bellllaaaaa" I cringed instantly and leant into Edward's side. It was early on Saturday, Edward and I were in the living room watching a movie. With only a week to go until the valentines dance the sound of Alice's sing song voice was enough to strike fear into my soul. I felt Edward chuckle slightly as he pulled closer  
"I'm sorry love, but I doubt even I can save you today" I sighed heavily as Alice danced into the living room  
"Come on Bella" she said sitting next to me on the couch "I've let you off because of the baby but we've left this long enough. We're going dress shopping today. No argument's, no excuses and no rescues" she added glaring at Edward who held his hands up in surrender and then with a gentle pat to my slightly swollen stomach she pranced off throwing "You have half an hour" over her shoulder.  
The shopping trip was as bad as I had expected it to be. It seemed that Alice was on a mission and had found and bought all of our dresses within the hour and had let me spend another good hour buying things for the baby. She had even followed my wishes for once and found a simple dress for me. It was beautiful though. Emerald green just like Edward's eyes and falling to rest just above my knees, the straps rested on the edge of my shoulders with a classic v neckline. I wide band wrapped around my waist allowing the skirt to fall gently and cover my tiny baby bump.  
"Hello Bella love" Edward greeted as I walked into his room after our shopping trip "How are my two favourite people?" he asked folding me into his arms  
"We're ok actually. No harm done" he smiled and kissed my forehead  
"Good, can't have our little peanut scarred before he or she gets here." I giggled and leant my head on his chest breathing in his scent and relaxing in his presence.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully with me spending almost all of my time at Edwards and occasionally having a family meal with everyone. The day of the dance I said goodbye to Charlie, he was coming over later when we were ready, and headed over to the Cullens. I stopped at the store on the way through and picked up pop tarts and pickles, I guess my cravings were making an appearance. I was so desperate for them that I ate two pop tarts on the drive over.  
Of course Edward greeted me as I pulled my truck into the drive and laughed when he saw me pull my stash of food out with me.  
"Cravings?" he asked after greeting me with a heart stopping kiss.  
"Yep" I confirmed pulling his lips back to mine and getting lost in his kiss. Not 5 minutes later we were interrupted by that pesky little pixie  
"Bella! Release my brother and get your pregnant self up these stairs!" she shouted out of her bedroom window. Edward and I broke away laughing and looked up to see Alice leaning out of her window glaring at us.  
"I'll be up in a moment Alice" I called and turned back to Edward.  
"I guess that's my cue" I said and leaned up to kiss him once more. I broke away smiling  
"I'll see you soon love" he said and kissed my forehead while rubbing a hand over my stomach.

"Pickles Bella, really?" Rosalie asked as I took a bite out of another.  
"Yes Rose, what baby wants, baby gets" I told her. Alice was currently doing something to my hair while Rose did her own make up. I finished my pickle and picked another before settling in for another couple of hour's torture.  
By six o clock we were ready and waiting to greet our men.  
"Are you sure you can't tell Alice?" I asked her for at least the tenth time.  
"Bella, you look no more pregnant than I do. I promise, in fact you have that wonderful pregnancy glow which makes you even more beautiful than normal" I blushed and mumbled my thanks before setting off downstairs. Once again Edwards eyes lit up when he saw me and I fell rather ungracefully into his arms as I reached the bottom breathing in his scent.  
"You are breath taking2 he whispered in my ear, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine. We watched Rosalie and Alice descend looking magnificent as usual. Alice looked unbelievable in a cream and black dress that reached mid-thigh. The top was made up of black silk that came together in the center of her chest ad held by a cluster of diamante. From the silk an intricate patter of black flowers butterflies flowed over the waist and then gave way to a layered cream skirt. Jasper couldn't keep his eyes off her and when she finally reached him he pulled her in for a passionate kiss. Rosalie was the last to descend and of course blew everyone out of the water in her gold corset style dress. The top showed off her perfect figure all the way down to her hips where it flowed out into the floor length skirt. Diamante added detail to the top and waist and a large split ran up the skirt to show flashes of her thigh as she walked. Emmett who had returned from college for the weekend to take rose to the dance, quite literally swept her off her feet when she greeted him and didn't put her down until he had carried her laughing to his car. We took that as our cue to leave  
"Bye dad" I said hugging him.  
"Bye Bells" he replied "have fun. But not too much" I laughed  
"Honestly dad, I'm already pregnant, what more could happen" Edward tried to cover his laugh with a cough and Charlie glared at him. But then rolled his eyes and gave me a push towards the door  
"Just go, and be back by 1"  
"I will dad, bye" I said bye to Carlisle and Esme and was escorted by Edward to the car where he opened my door before getting in his own side.

We reached the hall just a few minutes after the others and together we walked into the dance. Just like at the Christmas dance streamers hung all around the hall although there were all pink and red. Edward immediately led me to the dance floor as Emmett and Jasper did the same for Alice and Rose. Together we took to the middle of the dance floor and as though it was planned we began to dance in perfect unity. For the next hour or so we carried on in the same fashion, slow dancing and I decided I could dance all night with Edward. However when the fast dances started to dominate again and I lead Edward over to a table in the quieter area of the hall  
"Are you ok love?" he asked  
"Perfect" I answered "My feet aren't even hurting" I added sticking my leg out to Edward showing off my flat shoes. Edward stared and stared at my leg gulping slowly. He made some sort of garbled noise and his eyes snapped to my face  
"Ok please put your beautiful leg down before you kill me" I laughed and did as he asked and leant over to kiss me "Mmm2 he said as we broke away. The back of his fingers ran down my flushed cheeks and he smiled, taking my breath away with his crooked grin.  
"Would you like a drink love?"  
"Actually I'll go and get them. I want to see if I can find Angela" I said as I stood up  
"Ok sweetheart, hurry back" I smiled and walked toward the back wall of the hall where a table ran all along the large wall covered in all sorts of food and drink. I was more concentrated on looking for Angela than I was on filling the two small cups from the punchbowl. And so when I took my first sip of punch and felt the burning sting of vodka invade my mouth, it took me completely by surprise. I stared coughing immediately and spat what was left in my mouth back into the cup. The coughing would not stop though  
"Bella?" It was Angela, she looked at me worriedly and patted my back gently  
"E...E...Edward" I managed to croak out before the coughing started again and Angela immediately hurried off to find him.  
Not a minute later he was there holding my hands and making me look at him.  
"Bella? Bella? What is it?! What's the matter!?" I shoved the cup I still held into his hand and pointed at it. He held the cup up to his nose and sniffed it. Immediately his nose wrinkled and he slammed the cup back onto the table. He disappeared for a second and then as back like my savior holding a bottle of water. I gulped it down during a gap in my coughs and that seemed to do the trick in calming them down.  
"What's the matter Bella? Did I put a little too much in?" I turned to stare at Mike Newton as he held his punch cup up as if to illustrate his point  
"IT WAS YOU!" Edward shouted getting in Mikes face  
"Yeah, relax Edward we're just having a little fun"  
"SHE'S PREGNANT YOU IDIOT!"  
Silence followed Edwards's outburst, complete and utter silence. My luck it seemed had turned against me and Edward had shouted just in time for a lull in the music, meaning that everyone in the small hall had heard him. Face after face turned from Edward to me as I looked around the room. So many that eventually I simply looked at Edward, He was looking at me, horrorstruck at how this had come out. I smiled gently at him and walked over to take his hand. This wasn't his fault, he was just protecting me.  
"She's what!?" Mike finally said completely and utterly shocked. I turned around to face him and wrapped his arms around my waist resting his hands on my stomach  
"I'm pregnant Mike. As in we are having a baby" I said. I saw Alice, Rose, Em and Jazz come to stand with us and smiled at them. I was so blessed to have them as support. The noise started as soon as I finished speaking as people gossiped between themselves and the DJ started the music up again. Eventually it was left with only Edward, my family and I as well as Mike, Angela, Jessica, Lauren, Tyler and Eric still staring at us or more specifically at my stomach now.  
"Congratulations Bella" Angela said smiling and coming over to hug me. Edward let me go as I hugged her and whispered thank you in her ear.  
"You're really knocked up" Mike said finally, the alcohol clearly taking effect. Edward glared at him and made to move toward him. With Jasper and Emmett following both wearing murderous expressions but Tyler and Eric quickly grabbed Mike and led him away leaving Jessica and Lauren to throw me a disgusted expression before they followed them. I sighed heavily and wrapped my arms around Edwards's waist, resting my head on his chest.  
"I'm sorry love" he said to me quietly  
"It's fine Edward. It wasn't your fault. It had to come out sometime."  
He held me close for some time and we swayed on the spot. Eventually the excitement seemed to calm down or at least I had stopped noticing the stares and whispers. We filled Angela in on the pregnancy and she offered her sincere congratulations again before going to find Ben.  
Edward and I had had enough by this point and so decided to call it a night. Before we left I called into the ladies room, but as soon as I walked through the door I wished I had waited.  
Jessica and Lauren were already in there, adding another layer of make up on top of their already plastic faces.  
"Oh, well if it isn't the school whore" Lauren sneered as she saw me.  
"Excuse me!" I exclaimed  
"Well come on. Its obvious now, that's how you caught him isn't it? You spread your legs and then got knocked up so he'd have to stay with you" Lauren continued while Jessica nodded. I stared at them as angry tears filled my eyes  
"You have no idea what you're talking about. That may be the only way you can get a date or what you call a relationship, but I would never lower myself to your standards. Edward loves me and I love him. You need to accept that, both of you. We are having a baby and are extremely happy. Neither you nor your pretty little words are going to change that. Get it into your thick heads, He. Doesn't. Want. You. If you don't change your attitude and have some self-respect you are going to be lonely forever." And with that I turned on my heel and headed back to Edward. I gathered myself together before I reached him and by the time he saw me, my smile was back.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm sorry for the short chapter! I didn't realise it was so short!**

"Urgh" I groaned as I sat back on my heels and leant away from the toilet.  
"You ok Bells?" Charlie asked from the door of the bathroom. I stood up and moved to the sink to brush my teeth.  
"I'm fine dad, just morning sickness. I guess I'm one of the unlucky ones who have a longer stage of it." Charlie nodded and as I walked out of the bathroom pulled me into a hug  
"It'll be ok Bells. Just make sure you have a talk with Carlisle or your doctor if it carries on" I nodded and hugged him back before going downstairs. After a quick breakfast a knock sounded at the door and I hurried to open it. Edward stood at the door smiling at me with his crooked grin.  
"Good morning love. How's your stomach?" he asked caressing my belly gently  
"Urgh. It was bad this morning. My breakfast seems to have settled it a little but I don't know. We may have to have a rest stop on the way to school." I said with a small smile.

Barley a week had passed since the dance and Edward and I were still getting our fair share of whispers and stares as we passed our classmates in the hallways, only made worse by the fact that I had been darting in and out of most of my classes to make a mad dash to the bathroom to throw up.  
It was after one of these mad dashes and as I shuffled back towards biology that I was once again confronted by Lauren and Jessica. They passed me in the hall, clearly skipping class and at the last second Lauren hissed  
"Whore" as she passed me. Jessica let out a high pitched squeal of delight. I cringed and resisted the urge to cover my ears, instead throwing my own opinion back at them.  
"If you don't mind Jessica, I'd rather my baby came into this world with both eardrums intact."  
"Why you little bitch!" Jessica screamed and I laughed  
"Yeah of course. I forgot that you get classed as I bitch for speaking the truth these days. Both of their faces began to turn red with rage and I grinned before turning back around and carrying on back to biology. Edward hugged me as I sat back down next to him and kissed my forehead  
"You ok love?" You were gone a while, I was worried"  
"I'm fine, just taking care of business.

And so it continued. Lauren, Jessica and I ripped chunks out of each other whenever we were alone, in some sort of unspoken agreement that Edward should be kept out of it. But to tell the truth, I was getting tired of it. Adding that on top of my all day sickness plus the fact that I was constantly tired anyway wasn't making the 4th month of my pregnancy very enjoyable. Edward had noticed and was worried but I told him I was fine and not to worry, blaming my morning sickness for taking it out of me. Everything finally came to a head as March approached and with it month 5.  
"Mike, the delivery is here" I told him as I came round to the front of the store.  
"Right, ok. Are you ok here if I go and sort it out?"  
"Yeah, of course" I said, happy to let him go. Apparently my pregnancy announcement hadn't put him off hitting on me.  
It wasn't a particularly exciting job, working at Newton's. It didn't get a lot of custom apart from those who travelled through Forks and occasionally stopped to explore. But it provided the money we needed, and today I was glad for the quiet. Lauren and Jessica had made school hell today all away from anyone's eyes. And I refused to tell anyone either, refusing to let them win. I sat on the stool behind the till and picked up a magazine, not expecting any customers, as was usual on a Friday. And so when the bell above the door sounded I looked up in surprise. A woman of around 30 came through the door. She was slim and tall with fiery red hair framing her face. Behind her she dragged a young boy no older than 3 with blonde hair and big hazel eyes. My heart clenched looking at him. He was adorable. As the woman approached the till I realised that my hand had come to rest on my tiny protruding stomach and I removed it quickly.  
"Good afternoon" I said standing up and putting the magazine away "Can I help you with anything today?"  
"Yes, you certainly can" the woman said angrily and I instantly became wary.  
"My husband James bought these last week" she exclaimed turning a plastic bag she was holding upside down on the counter and allowing a pile of metal cover the surface. "They are meant to be bear proof canisters but clearly…" she cut of mid-sentence and looked behind her for the little boy who had taken a step back when she had raised her voice  
"Riley, come here!" she screeched at him and he shuffled quickly forward to stand at her side again.  
"I'm very sorry about this" I started hoping to cut her off before she started shouting again. No such luck  
"Yes, you better had be" she bellowed "It is completely disgraceful, now what are you going to do about it?"  
"Do you have the receipt?" I asked timidly  
"What?! No. Of course not! I don't walk around carrying little scraps of paper, who do you think I am!" I didn't like this  
"I'm very sorry Madam but without proof that you purchased them here there is nothing I can do" I said quickly knowing that wasn't going to go down well.  
"Are you freaking kidding me!" she continued to scream and shout a tirade of curses and insults and I just stared at her glancing between her and the little boy who's face I'm sure was mirroring my own fear. My head felt light and my breathing hitched. I couldn't seem to stop my eyes from flitting between the two of them and before I had even realised what was happening Mike came out of the back room and stared around in shock before looking at me with horror as I tipped sideways and the world went black.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Nice big chapter to make up for the pitifully short one **

I was aware of very little as my senses came back to me. One thing I was sure of was that I was in hospital. I was so used to the incessant beep of the heart monitor that I recognised it immediately. My second piece of awareness came back slower but it was the one thing that was able to snap everything else into perspective and forced my eyes open.  
I sat bolt upright and started clutching at the hospital gown I was in, desperately trying to find my tiny baby bump. Large hands stilled my own and my frantic eyes lifted to lock with Edwards sparkling Emerald ones.  
"Shhh baby calm down, everything's fine. Peanut is perfectly healthy but you need to calm down." He words did the trick and eased my panic. I took deep calming breaths and let my hands gently rest on my stomach, relaxing more when I found my bump there. "Baby are you ok? Do you remember what happened?" I nodded slowly, rubbing my stomach  
"Yeah, that poor little boy… What have the doctors said?" I asked grasping one of his hands in both of mine and focusing on the lines of his beautiful face.  
"Nothing much really love, they wanted to wait until you woke up. All they said was that it wasn't too serious" I nodded slowly playing with his fingers  
"Would you go and find him for me?" I asked "I just want to hear it for myself" he smiled as he stood up  
"Of course love, I'll be right back" he kissed my forehead gently before leaving the room.  
I leant back in the bed and wrapped my arms around my stomach.  
"Don't worry baby, Momma won't let anything happen to you. Nothing at all." I whispered softly.  
The door opened again and I looked up into the beautiful face of my baby daddy. The doctor followed him through the door and smiled when he saw me sitting up.  
"Good afternoon Miss Swan. I'm Doctor Thomas, how are you feeling?"  
"I'm ok" I said "What happened to me?"  
"Well it seems to me that you are showing all the signs of being overly stressed. Now obviously pregnancy can be a very stressful time but from what I've heard from Edward here and from Doctor Cullen you seem to be coping extremely well. Which leads me to believe that there is something else going on? Is there anything that has been upsetting you Bella? Or causing you to worry?" I didn't answer straight away and didn't dare look Edward in the eye.  
"Erm, no not really" I said risking a glance at Doctor Thomas. He was surveying me over his glasses, clearly not believing a word I was saying. "Ok, ok, a few girls at school have been giving me a hard time and my morning sickness is really bad and making me tired." I finally looked at Edward. He was staring at me, clearly distressed. "Hey" I said quietly "It's ok, I'm ok, everything is fine"  
"Who?" he whispered  
"Jess and Lauren" I mumbled and instantly his jaw clenched. I took his hand and rubbed his knuckles, turning back to the doctor. He was taking notes with his brow furrowed before he looked back up at me.  
"Ok Miss Swan, anything else?" but Edward spoke before I could.  
"She's got a job. She's been working 3 nights a week after school, but she doesn't need to." I tried to glare at him but I knew he was only worried. Doctor Thomas nodded slowly  
"Ok, so it seems I was correct. All of this is causing you stress Miss Swan which is not healthy for you or the baby" I nodded to encourage him to continue. I needed to know what to do. Anything for my baby "My suggestion is for you to take at least a couple of weeks off work if not quit altogether. But I know that isn't always and option"  
"Done" I told him and he smiled.  
"Also I would like to put you on bed rest. Just for the rest of this weekend" he added on seeing my expression and I relaxed again. Also I will talk to Doctor Cullen and maybe ask him to have a word with your principal about these girls?" I bit my lip uncertainly  
"Ok but subtly. Anything big will just make it worse" I said Edward's fingers stroked my cheek turning my attention to him  
"That isn't going to happen sweetheart" he told me softly, I smiled at him and held his hand against my face with my own. It must have been at least a couple of minutes that we were staring at each other before the doctor cleared his throat. I blushed heavily as we turned back to him but he simply smiled and continued.  
"What I would like to do before I let you leave is perform an ultrasound just to be on the safe side" worry gripped me immediately, looking to Edward I could see he felt the same. Doctor Thomas saw and so continued. "It's nothing to worry about, all I'm doing it for is to give us all some piece of mind" we nodded and he left to fetch the ultrasound machine. Edward placed his hands on my stomach and I ran mine through his hair.  
"Together?" I asked  
"Together" Edward agreed and clasped one of my hands in both of his.

It didn't take long for Doctor Thomas to return to my room where we were waiting rather impatiently  
"Ok, let's get a look at this baby" he said as I exposed my stomach and he squirted the gel onto it. It seemed to take Doctor Thomas a long time until he looked up at us and smiled. The tension visibly drained from our shoulders and then the doctor hit a button. The room filled with the sound of our baby's heartbeat and all leftover worry left my body. The doctor turned the screen around and Edward and I leant forward to get a closer look,  
"You may have to find a new nickname sweetheart. He or she doesn't look much like a peanut anymore" I chuckled. Edward grinned at me  
"They will always be my peanut love" he said and leant over me to kiss my lips.  
"Well, everything looks fine" Doctor Thomas said, breaking our moment "the baby is growing perfectly and has a good, strong heartbeat"  
"Thank you Doctor" I said enthusiastically  
"All part of the day job" he exclaimed happily. "You're free to go home now. Just remember what I said, take it easy and stay on bed rest this weekend. I'm going to prescribe you something which should help with your morning sickness" I smiled as he stood up,  
"Thank you" I said and he nodded  
"I'll be back with your prescription shortly, and then you can leave.

Edward helped me to get out of the bed and dress in my regular clothes. Then he simply held me. His arms encircled my waist and I wrapped my own around him.  
"I thought I was going to lose you today" he admitted in barely a whisper. I moved my head off of his chest and looked into his emerald eyes, he looked back at me and continued "When my father rang to say you had been brought in"  
"Wait" I said "Carlisle rang you? What about Mike, didn't he ring?"  
"No" Edward replied with a hint of what I determined to be anger in his eyes. "He phones for the ambulance but didn't think to ring me or your dad" I just nodded, not sure what to think.  
"But when I did finally get the call my blood ran cold. A million thoughts rushed my head and for a moment I couldn't function. I honestly wouldn't survive if anything happened to you. Either of you" his hands ghosted over my tiny baby bump as he spoke  
"I feel the same" I told him quietly "You and this baby are my everything. I love you both so much"  
"I love you too" he answered and then lowered his lips to mine.

20 minutes later and I was walking with Edward and Charlie through the hospital doors, on my way home.  
"Will you be okay if I head back to the station for a couple of hours Bells? I just have a bit of paperwork that needs finishing"  
"Of course dad, Edward will stay with me right?" I said looking up at Edward.  
"Always" Edward replied causing me to blush and Charlie to roll his eyes  
"Ok, but you're on bed rest remember" he said causing my blush to increase tenfold.

"Ok, do you have everything you need?" Edward asked me. I didn't reply just simply stared at him and raised my eyebrows. He had forced me into bed the second we stepped through the door and since then he had brought me drinks, food, magazines, movies and anything else he thought I would need in the next two days.  
"Edward, will you please calm down. Come here" I said, patting the space beside me. He climbed onto the bed and I tucked myself into his chest. His arms encased me and I was finally able to relax.  
"This, right here is all I need, you and our baby"  
"I agree sweetheart which is why you need to rest. So close your eyes and get some sleep. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." And so I did, falling into a peaceful slumber with a smile on my face.

"I am going stir crazy!" I shouted as Charlie brought me a glass of juice.  
"I know Bella but you only have 1 day left then you can go back to school"  
"Urgh, Yeah wonderful" I said sarcastically  
"Well it looks like those mood swings are coming in nicely" Charlie chuckled causing me to scowl at him. He held his hands up in surrender and backed away slowly. "Ok, ok, I'm going to call in the cavalry" he said as he disappeared  
"What do you mean the cavalry!" I shouted after him.

It turns out the cavalry meant Edward, who came armed with pickle and pop tarts. I took one look at him, armed with treats for me and burst into tears.  
"Bella?" he questioned, dropping the food onto my bed and climbing next to me, "baby, what's wrong?" he asked, desperation coloring his tone.  
"N…Nothing" I hiccupped "mood swings" Edward face relaxed and he pulled me into his arms  
"Don't worry sweetheart, this is all natural. Just peanuts way of getting big and strong" I chuckled and leaned up to peck his lips.  
"Fancy springing me out of here? Just for an hour or two? I'm sick of the sight of this room"  
"Oh no, not happening love. You're on bed rest for a reason" I growled in frustration and threw myself back on the bed,  
"Fine, what are we going to do then?"  
"Well I was actually thinking that we could have a talk about after Peanut is born" Edward said, turning on the bed to lie next to me and trace patterns on my bump.  
"Ok" I answered smiling at him "What kind of things do you want to talk about?"  
"Well there's college to think about, Peanut will be 1 by the time we're ready to go, so there's nothing really stopping us. We can work out childcare in between classes and together we can do it" I was quiet for a moment, thinking things through.  
"Yeah, I'd still like to go to college, as long as we go together right?"  
"Of course!" Edward exclaimed "like I'd ever consider going anywhere without my family" I smiled  
"Where are our options? I don't think I'd like to go far from our families. I want the baby to know them and I very much doubt I'll get into an Ivy League school" Edward pulled me into him  
"We don't have to decide anything right now, there's plenty of time for that but just so you know, we can go anywhere we want to. I know you can get into an Ivy League school, if that's what you want. And as for our family, they will understand and we can fly home every weekend if we want to. I won't let anything stop you from fulfilling your dreams." I kissed him fiercely  
"You're my dream" we broke away eventually, both panting heavily. "Mmm, I think I could get used to this bed rest thing" Edward smiled his stunning crooked grin and pecked my lips once more  
"As much as that idea intrigues me it's called 'rest' for a reason"  
"Yeah, yeah" I mumbles "so anything else you want to talk about?" I asked  
"A few things, do you want to start thinking about names?"  
"Oh! Now this is a topic I like" I exclaimed excitedly "I've actually had a few thoughts"  
"Really, and what are they?" I could see the curiosity in his eyes "It it's a boy, Edward Junior" I suggested the curiosity disappeared instantly  
"No, no, no, no, no. Sweetheart I love that you would name our child after me but Peanut needs his/her own identity" I nodded  
"Fair enough, just a suggestion"  
"Any ideas for a girl?" he asked  
"Not really I was throwing a few around in my head but I have a feeling we're having a boy" Edward looked at me in surprise  
"Really? Any particular reason?" I shook my head  
"No, not really just a feeling"  
"hmmm, ok so let's think of boy's names for now, how about Thomas?" I crinkled my nose  
"Nope, Too common" I giggled  
"Ok, well if you like the idea of naming him after someone, how about someone who isn't with us anymore? That wouldn't stop him or her being anything but themselves"  
"Who do you mean?" I asked quietly  
"My Grandad"

I was silent for a moment. Edward's Grandad had died when Edward and I were 7. But he was loved dearly. Some of our earliest memories included him, showing us magic tricks and telling us stories.  
"I love that idea" I told him. "It's perfect"  
"Really? Don't feel you have to. I don't want you to feel pressures into anything"  
"Edward shh" I said placing my fingers over his lips "I loved him too, I want to honor him like this" That made Edward grin widely and press him lips to mine  
"What about a girl's name?" I asked when we broke away "I really struggle with those"  
"We have time Bella, it will come to us, when the time is right"  
"Yeah, you're right. There is something else we need to decide though" I said, tucking myself into Edward further  
"And what is that?" Edward asked  
"Well, godparents"  
"Yeah that one could be tricky"  
"Well we can have 4 and we have 4 friends and siblings who would be perfect but will they be up for it?"  
"Up for it? Bella love they are dying for us to ask them. I'd put my life savings on it"  
"Hmm, and thinking about it they are kind of perfect. Alice will be the fun Aunt who plans surprises and takes Peanut shopping." Edward chuckled before adding  
"Yeah, and Emmett will be the big kid who sneaks Peanut sweets after we said no, and has more fun on the jungle gym than Peanut" I laughed, hard. What he said was nothing was the truth.  
"And then Jasper, the calm and sensible uncle. Who Peanut can go to for advice if he/she feels they can't come to us, although I hope that never happens. And he'll be the one who sits with Peanut with a huge history book and fills their head with stories of wonder" Edward finished. His words brought tears to my eyes as I pictured it in my head. Only Jasper was replaced with Edward and on his knee, resting sleepily with their head on his chest was a young boy, the spitting image of his father with locks of bronze hair and gleaming emerald eyes filled with curiosity and fascination as his father told him a story from the thick book in his hand.  
I looked back to Edward breaking out of my fantasy and caught his last words.  
"And then of course we have Rosalie. Not only would she be an amazingly loving Aunt but she would also be fiercely protective. There would no danger of Peanut having low self-esteem, not with her around." I beamed at him  
"I love you, you know that right?" I whispered and caught his face between my hands. He moved his head to catch my fingertips with his lips. He kissed everyone or them before kissing my promise ring and then moving my hand to his chest, over his heart,  
"I do, and you know that I love you too right? With all that I am. My entire soul belongs to you. My Bella, My love"

We informed our friends of their new godparent's status the next day. Edward picked me up for school insisting that I shouldn't drive even though I was officially off of bed rest, much to my excitement. They were waiting for us as we pulled into the parking lot and into our usual space beside Rosalie's M3 and before I could even open my door they were there and pulling me out into their warm embraces. They had phoned me over the weekend but I had yet to see them since my accident. I was passed from person to person until I ended up back at Edwards's side.  
"Hi" I laughed "It's lovely to see you too"  
"How are you feeling Bella?" Rose asked  
"I'm fine guys, please don't fuss. We're both perfectly healthy" They smiled wide.  
"Fabulous!" Alice yelled causing us all to laugh. It felt good to be back with my friends. Edward's arms wrapped around my shoulders and his other held his phone out to me. I looked at him in confusion  
"Emmett would like a word love"

"Oh" I said taking the phone "Hey Emmy"  
"Bella boo!" he shouted "Are you looking after that nephew of mine?" he asked  
"Of course I am Em and he can't wait to meet you" I could practically hear his answering smile through the phone. Edward caught my attention and whispered to me,  
"Should we tell them now? While he's on the phone" I nodded enthusiastically  
"Em, I'm going to put you on speaker phone, we want to tell you all something" I told him  
"You aren't having twins are you Bellsie?" I laughed  
"No Emmett, nothing like that"  
"Aww" he groaned. Still giggling I pressed the speaker button and faced my friends  
"Ok, so Edward and I have made a decision that involves all of you" I was met with confused stares and Edward took over for me  
"Well we were wondering if you would all like to be god-parents for Peanut?"  
Silence followed the announcement for a fraction of a millisecond before two squeals broke out from the girls and triumphant shouts from the boys. Edward and I were pulled into yet more hugs while we laughed.  
"Should we take that as a yes?" I asked them once the hugging had stopped.  
"Of course we will darlin'" Jasper said for them all.  
Announcement over we made our way into school in time for the bell and began to head our separate ways for home room. But just as Edward and I rounded the corner we heard Alice shout us,  
"Yeah Alli?" I said  
"Be prepared for some serious baby shopping this weekend. Being an Aunty and a God-mother means double the shopping" and then she danced away leaving me horror struck next to Edward.

School was as I had expected it to be. People still made comments and stared at Edward and me. And Jessica and Lauren despite being questioned about and punished for their bullying continued in the same manner. The only difference now was firstly Edward refused to let me go anywhere alone if he could help it. He and Alice had a system of her conveniently needing the bathroom when I did, meaning she appeared whenever I left my classroom. And secondly I was learning to ignore all of it. I was happy and my family was happy. That was all that mattered.

True to her word, Alice showed up bright and early for shopping on Saturday morning, just as Edward had climbed out of my window. Using her key, she let herself in and was soon shaking me roughly.  
"Bella, get up we only have so much time to shop" I groaned and rolled over trying desperately to block her out  
"Alice, its half 7 in the morning, you have to be kidding me!"  
"I do not kid about shopping Isabella. Now UP!" muttering about annoying pixies I gave in and clambered out of bed.  
"Has no-one ever told you not to annoy a pregnant woman Alice?"  
"Oh behave you and get ready, we're leaving in 30 minutes"  
29 minutes later and Alice was pulling out of my drive while I slumped sleepily in the passenger seat.  
"Cheer up Bella I'll have you home by dinner"  
"DINNER! Alice we are not shopping for 9 hours! I refuse to even contemplate that!  
"Relax, I have other things as well as shopping planned" I huffed not believing a word she was saying.  
"And how come I'm the only one subjected to this?" I asked her as we hurtled down the highway.  
"You aren't, Rosalie is meeting us at the mall." That made me feel a little better, I could always bride Rose to take me home early.  
Oh how wrong I was. It turns out that Rosalie is just as bad as Alice when it comes to baby shopping. By lunch time we had bought 80% of what Edward and I would need for the baby.  
"Alice, please tell me we're taking a break soon?" she smiled at me as we walked through the mall  
"We are Bella, how would you feel about a spa afternoon" And I could've kissed her  
"That sounds like heaven just about now"  
She simply grinned and led us down to the beauty section of the mall. We entered one of the larger stores through a set of glass doors. We were greeted by a man in his early 20's all dressed in white and carrying a tray of champagne flutes  
"Welcome to spa solace ladies" he said as he offered the tray to us  
"Don't worry Bella it's just sparkling fruit juice" Alice said as I hesitated. It didn't take me long to figure out that Alice was a frequent customer here. All of the staff greeted her by name and it seemed couldn't do enough for us. We were inundated with drinks and snacks as we were put through what I was sure was 100's of dollars' worth of spa treatments. By the time we left I felt as though I'd slept for a weeks. I was completely relaxed and happy.

We arrived home at 5 o clock and practically danced through the door and directly into Edward's arms  
"Well hello Miss Swan. You look stunning. Apparently shopping with my sister isn't as brutal as I recall." I grinned and wrapped my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest.  
"She treated me to a spa afternoon to make up for all the shopping" I said quietly "They're bringing the bags in" I added.  
"I see, well remind me to thank her" Edward said as he pulled me onto the couch and rested his hands on my stomach. "Hello Peanut. Daddy missed you and Momma today I smiled and kissed Edward sweetly.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

On a Sunday in mid-March Esme and Carlisle celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary and for it organised a BBQ at the Cullens house. They struck lucky with the weather and the day dawned unseasonably warm. Edward and I along with the others assisted Esme in preparing the food and house for the few guests who were coming.  
The afternoon was filled with laughter, fun and stories passed from person to person about the perfect couple that was Esme and Carlisle, and all I could think about was that I hoped Edward and I were this happy in as many years.

Monday morning dawned bright and rainy as per usual in the Pacific Northwest. My eyes opened to one of my favourite sights in the world, Edward's beautiful emerald eyes.  
"Good morning beautiful" he said kissing my nose "Charlie left early today and so I thought I would stay and watch you wake up" I smiled up at him.  
"I'm glad you did. I love waking up next to you" he swooped down to kiss me and my arms automatically locked around his neck. It was several minutes before we broke away from each other  
"God, I love you" I told him as I rested my forehead against his.  
"And I love you too sweetheart" he replied  
"How would you feel about skipping first period?" I asked grinning at him mischievously. He grinned back dazzling me with his stunning crooked grin.  
"I'd say hell to the yes" he said causing me to giggle and then capturing my lips in another heart stopping kiss and pulling me on top of him.

We arrived at school in time for second hour and were caught by Alice as we walked along the corridor,  
"Well hello there" she said as she spotted us "What happened to you two this morning?" she continued with a knowing smile  
"Ermm morning sickness?" I said sounding more like I was asking her a question.  
"Oh and I suppose Edward was suffering too?" she asked  
"Nope but I sure did make her feel better" Edward said winking at Alice and then leading me down the corridor.  
The morning went quickly complete with snide remarks from Jessica and Lauren the worst of which was on the way to lunch. Edward had left me safely in Alice's capable hands and gone to the bathroom before lunch but the two of us only made it to the cafeteria doors before we were intercepted by the two witches.  
"Well, if it isn't knocked up and freak show" Lauren said in her nasally voice. I sighed in annoyance and Alice rolled her eyes.  
"Seriously is this not getting old yet?" I said addressing the two girls.  
"We aren't going to stop until we have proved that you're just trapping Edward with this bastard child" And immediately my anger flared, making my blood boil and my vision turn red. They could taunt and bully me all they wanted but nobody call my child a bastard. Yet before I could utter a syllable Alice exploded.  
"WHY YOU LITTLE BITCH!" and she lunged for Lauren. I quickly took a step back not wanting to get into the crossfire but it was over before it began. Lauren had simply curled up into a tiny ball while Alice clawed at her hands.  
"Alice" I said loudly making sure my voice got through to her. She backed up when she heard me and breathed heavily, glaring with pure venom at both of them. Jess hurried to pull Lauren up as soon as Alice backed off and they both began to run down the corridor.  
"Tell anybody Lauren and I'll have you arrested for harassment" Alice shouted after her. I simply stood and stared at my best friend. She turned and stared back at me, the anger slowly dissipating from her face,  
"Nobody, especially a dirty little skank like her calls my niece a bastard" I pulled her into a fierce hug  
"Thank you Alice" I whispered in her ear "Are you ok?" we pulled away and Alice grinned  
"I'm perfect Bella, now let's go get some food."

We linked arms and walked through the doors. My eyes immediately found Edward's worried ones and we walked quickly towards each other. Out of nowhere my body flared and the passion that had been so strongly present this morning was back tenfold. I threw my arms around him as we met in the middle of the cafeteria and not caring that the entire room was watching our lips found each other in a forceful embrace.  
It could have been minutes or hours but we didn't care. Only one thing was able to get through to us in that moment and as it occurred I gasped loudly and broke away from Edward's kiss, my hand flying to my ever growing stomach,  
"Did you feel that?" I asked Edward, my voice coloured with wonder. Edward looked back at me, his expression matching mine then simply nodded and placed his hands with mine on my stomach.  
"Hello Peanut" he said and my eyes filled with tears  
"He kicked" I whispered and Edward beamed as my stomach jumped gently again. I looked around Edward toward our family and grinned with tears streaming down my face. I could hold my excitement no longer and shouted to them  
"Peanut is kicking!" I shouted loudly and immediately Alice, Rose and Jasper were cheering and running towards us. I soon had 4 pairs of hands on my stomach desperate for feel for themselves. My little Peanut didn't disappoint and soon there were 2 Aunties, and Uncle and 1 very excited Daddy staring at my stomach in fascination. We ignored everyone else around us as they continued staring and made our way back to our table and for the rest of the day no-one and nothing could remove the smile of complete joy from my face.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

"Edward, nothing fits! I'm so fat!" I sobbed as I threw everything from my wardrobe all over my room.  
"Bella, sweetheart" he said clasping my frantic hands in his "You are not fat, you're pregnant. You grow more and more beautiful every day. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing you round with my child. Honestly, I fall more and more desperately in love with you everyday" I took a deep breath and sat on the end of my bed  
"I love you too Edward, Thank you but that doesn't help the fact that nothing fits me anymore. If I'm this big at 6 months what am I going to look like in another 3?!"  
"Beautiful" Edward answered without missing a beat. "And I think I can help out with your clothes crisis" he continued with a grin before he kissed me quickly and then stood up. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he typed a number in and held it to his ear. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for the other person to answer  
"Alice?" Edward questioned "Bella needs some help. Clothing help" Even from my bed I heard her excited shout. Edward chuckled and hung up "Alice will be here in 5" he said. I stood and wrapped my arms around his waist hugging myself as close to him as my stomach would allow.  
"Thank you baby" I told him quietly  
"You're welcome beautiful"

Alice, my saviour arrived not 10 minutes later complete with several bags of maternity clothes.  
"Are you excited Bella?" she asked me as I sat at my dressing table letting her fix my hair. It was Saturday morning and Edward and I had a doctor's appointment.  
"I am, I can't wait to see how big Peanut is now." Alice smiled  
"Are you going to find out if Peanut is a boy or a girl?"  
"Nope, we've decided we want the surprise" I told her. She shrugged and went back to fixing my hair,  
"That's fine. I already know she's a girl" Alice replied smug. I laughed  
"Sure you do Alice"

10 minutes later I was ready and we were leaving my house. Alice stroked my stomach before she left  
"Bye little one. Remind Momma and Daddy to bring me a picture of you" I smiled and looked over to Edward, questioning him with my eyes. He smiled back and knowing what I was asking nodded.  
"Would you like to come with us Alice?" I asked her, grinning with anticipation for her reply. She didn't disappoint and her scream of excitement caused Peanut to kick his hardest yet. Edward chuckled and opened the car doors for us  
"Ladies" he said "our carriage awaits"  
Alice bounced in her seat the entire way to Port Angeles and over the hour drive her excitement rubbed off onto Edward and I. So that by the time we pulled into the parking lot at the clinic all three of us had grins spread widely across our faces. The waiting room was quiet this time around with only 1 other couple waiting. They smiled at us as we took a seat which we returned with smiles of our own. Alice buried her nose in a fashion magazine despite complaining about how old it was, while Edward and I looked at a pregnancy and birth magazine together. The couple across from us were called a few minutes later, just before Edward caught a glimpse of a picture in the magazine which turned him an off shade of green,  
"What is that!?" he exclaimed. Alice leant over to look and we both began to laugh.  
"Edward baby, that is a placenta and is what is feeding our Peanut right now" Edward's face was comical but before he could comment further our names were called. We crossed paths with the other couple as we made our way to the room. They were full of smiled as they left the clinic which in turn brightened the smile on my face.  
"Good morning Bella, Edward" Nurse Tara said as we entered her room.  
"Good morning Tara. This is my sister Alice. We couldn't keep her away" Edward said making the introductions while I climbed up onto the bed.  
"Hello Alice" Tara said smiling at Alice who had commandeered Edward's usual chair by the bed. Edward narrowed his eyes at her playfully  
"It's a good job I love you" he told her in a playful tone before standing behind the chair and reaching for my hand. Nurse Tara was smiling to herself at their banter while she set up the machine and got the rest of her equipment ready.

"You know the drill Bella. This will be cold" she said squirting the gel onto my round stomach "Now let's see how this baby is getting on" she said and within a few seconds the room was filled with a sound that I had only heard once before in my life. Yet it was a sound that could reach out and touch the very recess of my soul. Our baby's heartbeat. My tear filled eyes met Edwards and we smiled at each other feeling our love from one another expand impossibly. Our intimate moment was broken by Alice who in a fit of emotions had burst into tears and was sobbing out half illegible words such as "Shopping…Barbie…and niece" Edward and I laughed our connection broken and turned to look at our baby as Nurse Tara turned the screen to let us look.  
I didn't believe the joy I was feeling could grow and yet looking at that small black and white screen made my heart feel like it was about to explode out of my chest.  
"Everything here looks perfect" Nurse Tara said, writing down a few measurements "The baby is about a foot long and weighs about 2 pounds" she added "Would you like pictures?" We all nodded and Tara left the room to fetch them while I wiped off my stomach and Edward helped me down from the bed.  
"Oh my gosh. Guys that was the most magical thing I've ever seen in my life!" Alice chirped on. We were in the car on the way back to Forks and as yet Alice hadn't stopped talking. I had been blocking her out until something she said got through to me  
"So what theme are you having the nursery?" I looked across to Edward who was frowning before answering her.  
"To be honest Alice, I haven't even thought about it. I guess we need to make that a priority. He's not going to be able to stay in my room forever" Edward's eyes were on me when I finished while we sat waiting at a red light.  
"Move in with us" he said so fast I wasn't sure he had actually said it"  
"What?!" I exclaimed  
"Of course!" Alice said loudly "That's perfect we have plenty of rooms you can make into a nursery"  
"Are you serious? What about Esme and Carlisle? Surly you'll have to ask them and there's Charlie. I can't just leave him" Edward shushed me, placing a finger over my ranting lips while somehow keeping his eyes on the road  
"Bella, sweetheart don't worry now, but just so you know my Mother and Father would welcome you with open arms, you already know that. And as for Charlie he would be fine, he could come and visit whenever he wanted, he can come for dinner every night, we don't mind. But honestly love, I want to be selfish with you and Peanut. I don't want to live away from either of you for another minute"  
"You've been thinking about this a lot" I stated quietly  
"Yes, I have. At least just think about it" I looked at his beautiful, hopeful face and knew  
"I don't need to. I have to talk to Charlie but yes Edward, provided that your parents are ok with it, Peanut and I will move in" I didn't see him pull into the layby but the next thing I knew was that I was wrapped in Edward's arms while he whispered  
"Thank you" repeatedly in my ear and Alice squealed, bouncing once more in her seat.  
"Erm baby, I love you and I'm so happy that you're happy but Peanut is pressing on my bladder at the moment and I really love this Volvo. I don't want to ruin the upholstery." Alice burst into peals of laughter as Edward put his foot down and sped towards Forks.

Edward came over that night to talk to Charlie with me. Of course he and Alice had been right about Carlisle and Esme. In fact the two of them had been downright ecstatic about me moving in, so much so that when Edward and I had left to go to my house Esme and Alice has been tucked up in a corner together discussing wallpaper and themes, promising to have a scrapbook of ideas awaiting our approval soon.  
I decided to make one of Charlie favourite meals in the hopes of softening him up a little and so while I marinated the steaks I had Edward making a salad  
"What do you think Charlie will say?" Edward asked me as we worked. I smiled at him  
"I'm not entirely sure. I suppose with how well he took the baby news it may not be too bad but then he may go all protective. I mean I don't want him to feel like I'm abandoning him too, like Renee did. It's always been me and him. I'm scared he's going to hate me." Tears filled my eyes and overflowed as Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind. His hands cradled my bump while his chin rested on my shoulder  
"I don't know Renee. And what I've heard about her isn't the best but I can tell you the best thing about her. She made you." Edward turned me around and placed a chased kissed on my lips" And every day I'm thankful to Renee because without her, I would not have you or our Peanut" his fingers stroked my cheek wiping away the tears that ran down my face "and something else I know is that you will not be the same with Peanut as she was with you. I see it every time you unconsciously touch your stomach and in the way you light up when I say Peanut" I smiled a watery smile "Yes, just like that" Edward continued smiling back "You are going to be a fantastic Momma, and Peanut is going to love you so much. Just like I do and just like I will, forever." He met my eyes, his filled with steely conviction "Bella baby, Charlie knows all this, he knows how much you already adore little Peanut and he knows probably better than anyone how much a child needs both their parents. He let Renee back into your life, probably against his fatherly instincts knowing that it was best for you. And so when we tell him that this is what is best for Peanut he'll understand and if I know Charlie like I think I do he'll support us, 100%. He loves you, like I do, like Peanut does."  
My heart couldn't take anymore ad I flung my arms around his neck kissing him fiercely  
"Are you even real?" I asked him "How can anyone be so perfect" he smiled and kissed me again.  
"I only want to make you happy sweetheart, you and Peanut"  
"You're succeeding, tenfold"

We went back to cooking, my heart feeling lighter somehow and by the time Charlie came back from his fishing trip there was a hot meal on the table  
"Hey Bells, something smells good"  
"Hey dad, Edward and I made dinner" I told him setting our drinks on the table and taking my seat,  
"Uh oh, you're not about to tell me you're having twins are you?" Charlie asked with a grin  
"What!? No Dad, why does everyone keep asking me that? Am I really that fat?" I exclaimed  
"Calm down Bella, I was only joking" Charlie said panicked  
"Bella" Edward said meaningfully, I sighed heavily  
"I know, I'm not fat, I'm pregnant" I said "Sorry dad" Charlie chuckled  
"Got to love those mood swings right Edward?" Anyway go on, what's the news?" I swallowed loudly  
"Well, Edward and I have been talking about what's going to happen when the baby get here."  
"Ok, good" Charlie said  
"And well, Edward had asked me to move in with him and the Cullens" Charlie didn't say anything for a minute and so Edward continued  
"You see Charlie, I have every intention of taking care of Bella and the baby. And I can't do that without being here 24/7. I can't leave her to do all the night feeds herself and we don't want to move the baby back and forth all the time. And sir I respect you too much to ask you to put up with me in your house more constantly that I am at the moment. I understand that you will want and deserve some peace and quiet. I love your daughter with all my heart and so I guess what I'm asking is your permission to take care of her and our child in the best way I can." I marveled again at the way Edward could word things. Charlie was looking at him in slight shock and awe.  
"Dad, I need to know what you're thinking. I don't want to leave you but we both know there really isn't room here for a baby."  
"Bella calm down. It's fine; in all honestly I've been slightly worried about the room situation. I don't want you to leave, of course I don't. It's been you and me for a long time, but you're growing up, you'll always be my little girl but I have to let you go sometime, you're about to have a baby of your own, I don't think anyone could argue that there is a better time." Charlie smiled and clasped my hand with his  
"I'm not leaving yet dad, I've got 3 months until the baby comes"  
"Don't be silly Bells, there is so much you have to do before the little one arrives, the last thing you'll need is to be moving. Spend one more week with your old man and then go and get set up for my grandbaby." I got up and pulled Charlie to his feet and into a hug  
"I love you dad, I'm going to see you all the time and your grandbaby is going to love you so much. You're going to make a wonderful grandpa." We spent the rest of the night with Charlie watching a baseball game and talking about Peanut. When the game had finished Charlie stood up  
"I'm heading to bed kids. Are you staying over Edward?" We stared at him incredulously and he chuckled  
"Kids, Do you think I'm stupid? I'm the chief of police, do you really think I haven't noticed the boy climbing in my daughters window?" I blushed heavily, my guilt clearly displayed on my face.  
"I'm sorry dad"  
"Don't worry Bells, you're already pregnant. What else can happen?" and Charlie left laughing as he walked up the stairs

I spent the remaining week with Charlie making all of his favourite meals and filling the freezer so that I knew he would eat properly at least for a while. Edward stayed of course and together we packed away my life. It took us longer than it should have because as well as having to go to school we would find an object or a picture which would trigger a memory from our lives together and so we would reminisce for hours before remembering what we were meant to be doing.  
Eventually though we have 3 piles of boxes, things to take to Edwards, things to take to goodwill and others which would stay at Charlie's. This pile was only small and contained things that I thought would be nice to keep in this room which would be Peanuts when he came to stay with his grandpa. My last night at Charlie's was both strange and emotional. We ordered pizza and sat together watching baseball just like any other night, but filled with emotion as separation permeated the air.

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	15. Chapter 15

"Bella, Edward?" Alice said walking into Edwar… our room, the Wednesday evening after I moved in. I sighed and sat up from where I was tucked against Edward.  
"Yes Alice?" she was holding a thick folder in her hands as she took a seat on the end of the bed.  
"It's full of nursery ideas for you two to look over. The sooner you decide the sooner we can start shopping" she said grinning widely as she handed me the folder.  
"Do you ever think of anything else?" Edward asked her  
"Rarely" she replied and then pranced out of the room. I laughed at my crazy best friend and turned back around to Edward.  
"I suppose we'd better do as her majesty asked" Edward smiled and tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear.  
"We should be thinking about this anyway" he said sitting up. He pulled me in between his outstretched legs and I leant back against his chest holding the folder open for us both to see.  
We marveled in silence for a moment at Alice's handiwork before speaking  
"I have never met anyone who can get things done like your sister" I said. The folder was crammed full of pictures of different styles and colours of everything from cots to wallpaper. Then there was a whole other section dedicated to themes from nurseries  
"Let's start here" Edward said pointing to the themes. "I think it will be easier to match furniture to theme than vice versa" I nodded in agreement and began flicking through them. Alice had collected themes in neutral colours since we weren't finding out the sex of the baby but each was set around something different, animals, the circus, the seaside and one that made me chuckle, a theme based on the baby's name  
"Nice try Alice" I laughed. I knew the one as soon as I saw it though. And when Edwards's hands covered mine to stop me from turning the page I knew he agreed.  
"I love this one" he said  
"Me too" Alice had named the theme 'When you wish upon a star' and it was beautiful. Walls painted half pale yellow and half white with darker yellow curtains and rug. And to complete the room the words 'When You Wish Upon A Star' were painted elegantly on one wall where the cot would go and were surrounded by pale green stars.  
"That's it Edward. That's the one"  
"I agree sweetheart" Edward said kissing my head. Now we had our theme we went through the rest of the folder and by the time we had finished we had everything picked out. All of the furniture was white with pale yellow and green bedding and to hang on the walls around the room were beautiful famed pictures.

Alice stared shopping the next day after school and soon she and Esme were in the nursery every evening painting and only calling on anyone else when furniture needed assembling. Edward and I would often help them out in any way we could in order to supervise them and tell them any changes or additions as we thought of them.  
Within a week unbelievably it was starting to come together. Edward and I stood in the doorway one evening just looking at the room that would be home to our child.  
"This makes it so much more real, don't you think?" I asked Edward, caressing my bump  
"Yeah, only 3 more months until we get to meet Peanut he said smiling down at me and making my heart beat erratically.  
"I can't wait" I whispered and stood on my tiptoes to press my lips against his.  
"What would you like to do tonight love?" he asked me when we broke apart  
"Mmm, more of this please" I grinned. Edward chuckled and pulled me into our room. We fell on the bed in fits of laughter before Edward pulled me so that I was straddling him and reached up to catch my face in his hands,  
"Have I told you how much I love you today? He asked, his emerald eyes locked with mine, pouring his love and devotion directly from his soul and into mine. I shook my head not wanting to break the magic he had conjured purely from the sound of his voice. "Well that just won't do will it" he muttered "Perhaps I should show you instead?" I nodded almost viciously and Edward chuckled, his laughter sounding like a hundred wind chimes. He moved me slowly so that I was laid on the bed and hovered over me, careful to not lean on my bump.  
"Isabella Swan. I love you so much it hurts." I grinned up at him and allowed myself to utter four words,  
"I love you too" he dipped his head and captured my lips with his. I kissed him back fiercely. Reveling I his closeness and losing myself to the passion. Edward's lips began to travel first down my neck and onto my collarbone then further down over my breasts and onto my bump. He pulled my shirt up and placed his hands on either side of my stomach before resting his ear on it.  
"Hello Peanut. I can't wait to meet you. You're momma and I are going to love you forever and we are going to try and be the best parents ever for you. But between me and you your Momma won't even have to try, she's already there, you'll see, she's going to be fantastic and you're going to love her so, so much, just like I do." It seemed all I did these days was cry, and as yet more tears streamed down my face I was thankful that I was so blessed, and when Edward looked up he placed a kiss just above my belly button and then moved up to face me again. His forehead rested against mine and he looked straight into my eyes.  
"Thank you Bella for making my life so wonderful" I simply kissed him and from there we proceeded to show each other just how much we loved each other.

By the end of April I had settled into the Cullens, the nursery was finished and me, Edward and the gang were working heard at school, preparing for finals. With any luck I would be finished with school before Peanut arrived or before I became too uncomfortable. Emmett had started coming home every weekend claiming that it was so he could be around to help out and prepare for the baby but we all knew it was because he missed Rose too much.  
Edward and I met our midwife on a Monday morning at the beginning of May when she came to visit us at the house. She introduced herself as Pam when Edward led her into the living room where I was sitting. After making us all some tea we sat down to discuss my birth plan.  
"Now Bella, before I inundate you with information about different types of birth and pain relief, do you have any ideas for your birth plan?" I thought for a moment before answering. I had read a few things in the baby books but nothing substantial  
"I don't want an epidural. I know that much. I'm not a fan of needles" Pam smiled in understanding and nodded  
"Ok, no problem. Have you thought about a water birth at all?"  
"Not really, but I don't think I'm keen on the idea. I just want a regular natural birth with a bit of gas and air if I need it which I probably will" I replied letting out a nervous giggle. Edward laughed lightly too and wrapped an arm around my shoulders  
"Ok then" Pam said "What I will do is give you a copy of a standard birth plan and let you read through it. Then if you would like to make any changes just write them on here" she said handing me a piece of paper "Then if you send it back to me at the hospital I'll put it onto the hospital database for when you and Edward come in to have little baby Cullen" I smiled widely at her  
"That sounds perfect" I said "Is there anything else you would recommend we organise now?"  
"I would probably say your hospital bag. Just start with making a list of what you're going to need and pack for abou days in case you have a long labour. Apart from that just enjoy being pregnant. This is a magical time that you will always remember, so I try to tell my new parents to be to make extra special memories now and you'll look back and remember how amazing life cam be" I looked to Edward at that point just remembering all the happy memories we had already made and wondering if it was at all possible for them to get even better.  
Following Pam's advice we began packing the hospital bag the following week. Esme was fantastic with helping us organise what we would need and how much of everything we should take as well as helping to prepare for my Mother's impending visit. She had finally decided to visit and I was nervous. We had never had the closest of relationships, even before I found out she never really wanted me and yet I still found myself wanting her to approve of me and the life I had built for myself.

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	16. Chapter 16

She arrived on the second Sunday of May. Edward and I went to pick her up from the airport. I spotted her as soon as she walked through the arrivals door, tanned and smiling. I smiled too, she may not be the greatest Mother in the world but I still loved her.  
"Bella!" she shouted when she spotted us and began waving wildly. I waved back and hugged her when she reached us.  
"Oh Bella, I've missed you. And look at you!" she exclaimed placing a hand on my bump "You're so big already, how are you?"  
"I'm great Mom, never better. This is Edward" I told her, tucking myself into his side. Edward held out his hand and kissed the back of my Mom's when she placed it in his  
"Lovely to finally meet you Miss Dwyer" I could immediately tell that my Mom was impressed and she blushed before replying  
"You too Edward, and please call me Renee"  
"As you wish. Should we set off? I know my Mother cannot wait for you to arrive. I think she wants someone to gush about being a grandma with" Edward said making me giggle.  
"Grandma" my Mom said quietly to herself "Oh my, I'm too young to be called Grandma. I think we'll go with Nanna Renee. What do you think Bella?" Both Edward and I burst into laughter  
"Funnily enough Mom, Esme said the same thing"  
"In that case and from what I can remember of your parents Edward, I don't think you need to worry about the in-laws getting along" Edward ad I looked at each other at the mention of in-laws and simultaneously broke into matching grins. Edward took my right hand as we walked back to the car and kissed the promise ring he had placed there. I blushed and moved closer to him. We reached the car and Edward opened the back door for Renee.  
"I hope you don't mind sitting in the back Renee. I like having Bella up front then I can keep an eye on her and the baby." Renee smiled at him  
"Of course not Edward. I'm glad you feel that way. Clearly I couldn't have asked for someone better for my little girl" Edward nodded politely and once Renee was in the car walked around to the other side to open my door. He stopped before he did though and grasped my chin gently with his hand.  
"I think it's going well don't you sweetheart?" I smiled and stood on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips,  
"I think you're perfect and my Mom thinks so too I don't know how you do it or how I could possibly deserve you but thank you. Thank you for choosing me and loving us" Edward didn't reply he simply grinned my favourite crooked grin and then kissed first my lips and then my bump before opening my door and helping me in. Not 2 minutes later we were on our way back to Forks.

"Renee!" Esme said excitedly as we all climbed out of the car. "How lovely to see you again and in such happy circumstances!" Renee was pulled into one of Esme's famous hugs once we reached the front porch which Renee happily returned.  
"You too Esme, who would have thought it. Our babies having a baby together." I smiled to myself and followed Edward through the front door leaving the two gossiping woman to follow.  
Edward led me into the kitchen where he made us both a cool drink and set them on the breakfast bar, before I could take a seat though Edward pulled me into his arms. I wrapped mine around his waist and lay my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat. He rested his cheek on the top of my head and we both stood silently for a few moments.  
"How are you feeling love?" he asked finally  
"Ok, a little tired I guess"  
"In that case how about we take these drinks upstairs and have a little nap before dinner?"  
"That sounds heavenly" and so after kissing me swiftly Edward picked up our glasses and proceeded to lead me into the living room  
"Mom, I'm going to go and have a little lie down, this little one is taking it out of me these days. I'll see you at dinner ok?" I told her as we walked past her and Esme on one of the couches  
"Ok Bella, you rest up and take it easy. See you later"

"Edward, Bella?" I heard rousing me from my sleep.  
"Come in Esme" I called groggily as I sat up  
"Dinner will be ready shortly sweetheart" she told me as she peered around the door. I smiled at her  
"Ok, we'll be down in a couple of minutes. She nodded and closed the door. I turned to look at Edward who was still sleeping peacefully and couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. In sleep he looked so much younger, still beautiful and so relaxed with his arms wrapped protectively around my stomach, it almost pained me to wake him but we had to eat sometime.  
"Edward baby" I said quietly as I ran my fingers through his hair, he stirred at little but didn't wake. A mischievous grin appeared as I leant closer and pressed my lips to his. It didn't take him long to respond and soon we were fighting for dominance. Before it could get more interesting though I pulled away,  
"Dinners ready Edward, rise and shine" his emerald eyes opened and stared at me filled with desire. My breath caught in my throat and I couldn't look away.  
"That was mean my love" he said finally breaking away  
"Food" was the only word capable of leaving my mouth with the way Edward was staring at me and it caused him to chuckled  
"Come on then love, I can't keep my baby wanting can I? Either of them" I shook my head and climbed out of bed. We were dressed and heading downstairs a few minutes later. Walking into the kitchen I couldn't help but take a deep breath reveling in the wonderful aroma permitting the room.  
"Esme, this smells heavenly"  
"Why thank you dear" Esme replied turning from the stove for a moment.  
"Is there anything we can do?" I asked  
"You can go and sit with your Mom on the couch. Edward, you can set the table dear. Get Emmett and Jasper to help" Edward was about to argue until I nudged him and fixed him with a stern look. He sighed and reluctantly shuffled off to find the other boys. Laughing to myself I made my way into the living room.  
Renee was sat with Alice and Rose looking at a baby magazine, no doubt buying Peanut more clothes. 10 minutes later Charlie had arrived causing a little tension in the air. It soon dissipated though when Renee smiled at Charlie and asked him how he was.

We were all sat around the table not long after enjoying Esme's delectable feast.  
"How are you feeling Bella?" Renee asked as everyone was finishing off their dessert "Did your nap do you any good?"  
"I'm great Mom, it's just getting to the point where I'm tired all the time" both Esme and Renee smiled knowingly  
"That's completely normal sweetheart" Esme said patting my hand reassuringly  
"I can't believe Peanut will be here in just over 2 months" I said while absent mindedly wiping a dirty spot on my glass with a napkin. "It's scary" Edward kissed the back of my left hand and reached across to caress my stomach.  
"Peanut?" My Mom exclaimed slightly louder than necessary  
"Yeah. Edward thought the baby looked like a peanut on the first scan and so the nickname just kind of stuck. Why what's wrong?" Renee visibly relaxed and then let out a chuckle.  
"Oh Bella! For a moment I thought you had decided to call the baby Peanut. You know like that celebrity baby called Apple? Phew!" the table was quiet for a moment and then at once we all erupted into laughter.  
Later on when Esme had set the boys the task of cleaning up we moved into the living room where I sat with Renee on one of the couches. Alice came over with Peanuts baby book and with a smile handed it to me.  
"Do you want to look through this Mom?" I asked showing Renee "It's Peanut's baby book"  
"Oh! Of course I do Bella?" Renee exclaimed excitedly. I laughed and moved closer to her opening the book between us.  
"Oh Bella, this is wonderful!" she said as we looked through the book together. "Is this the first scan picture?" she asked  
"Yep, that's the one we sent you. The others are here too" Renee flipped through the book excitedly. The boys came through from the kitchen as Alice and Renee chatted about the baby book. Edward smiled lovingly at me and came to sit on the arm of the couch next to me. He leaned down and kissed me softly on my nose  
"How are you love?"  
"Great." I smiled at him "My Mom is loving all the baby talk. I'm going to show her the nursery in a minute."  
"That's a wonderful plan Bella" grinning at the glorious man next to me I leant up to kiss him. As we broke away Edward cupped my cheek and said louder  
"I'll escort you, once Alice stops yapping" Alice's head shot up and she glared at Edward while the others laughed.  
"Mom, do you want to see the nursery?" is I had thought Renee was excited about the baby book nothing compared to her reaction to this. She jumped up from the couch and began bouncing and squealing with an excitement to rival Alice's.  
The rest of the room tried their best to hide their laughter while Charlie shook his head slowly with a knowing grimace, well aware of Renee's ways. I chuckled and started to get up only to have Edward shoot up off the arm and assist me, wrapping an arm around my waist when I was steady on my feet. It was slow progress these days making my way up the stairs but Edward never let me go, supporting me the whole way up.  
When we eventually reached the third floor Edward and I led the way to the nursery where it was, situated next to our room  
"Alice and Esme did most of the work but Edward and I picked everything" I told Renee as Edward opened the door for us and gestured for us to enter before him. I couldn't stop the huge grin that grew on my face every time I stepped into the nursery from appearing yet again as Renee looked around soaking it all in.  
"Oh Bella!" she exclaimed "This is so beautiful!"  
"Thanks Mom, I adore it too"  
"Esme should do this for a living, this furniture is adorable." She added running her hand along the rocking chair,  
"And these pictures! Wherever did you find them?" I smiled again and went to stand with Renee in front of the framed pictures while Edward looked on with joy. Those three pictures were one of my favourite things about the nursery. The first was of a pregnancy bump with the parents hands joined over it. The second was a newborn baby asleep in a mess of blankets and the third was my favourite it was a scene depicting a woods in the fall and walking through the trees away from the artists perspective was a family, a young man and woman and between them holding tightly to each of their hands a child, no older than 4.  
"I didn't Mom. Esme drew them." She stared at me incredulously  
"Are you kidding me?" I laughed  
"No, that's actually my bump and our hands. Eventually the baby will be Peanut and the family will be us. She's going to redraw them when Peanut arrives, and again when he's 3"  
"Wow" was all Renee could say. I heard the nursery door close and turned to find Edward gone. I smiled to myself. Somehow he knew exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. Just one of the many reasons I loved him.  
I sat in the rocking chair and rocked gently as I ran my hands over my bump, watching Renee wander around the nursery. She noticed where I was and smiled, taking a seat on the matching stool. She wouldn't meet me eyes though and I frowned slightly  
"Mom?" I questioned "What's on your mind?" taking a deep breath she looked at me and without warning blurted out  
"I'm sorry" it took me a moment to react  
"For what?" I asked  
"For not being there for you Bella. I've known since the moment you were born that I haven't been the Mom you deserve, far from it. And it's hitting me hard at the moment, seeing all this and seeing how happy you are." I leant forward as much as I could and grasped one of my Mom's hands.  
"Mom, you don't have to explain yourself"  
"No Bella, I do. I was never the maternal type and Charlie loved you so much from the moment he knew you were coming and I just made a rash decision that you would be better off with him. You have to know I regretted it as soon as I watched the nurse hand you to Charlie but I was too ashamed to admit it. I loved your father, I really did please don't think I didn't, I just got scared. I'm so, so sorry Bella. I love you" Renee finished speaking and heavy tears rolled down her cheeks  
"I forgive you Mom. And I love you too." She smiled a watery smile/  
"I just want you to know Bella, that you will never make my mistakes. I know that whole heartedly, you're like Charlie, you know exactly what you want and do everything you can to get it. I want you to promise me Bella, that you won't ever let go of that side of you. It's your greatest quality" I had tears in my eyes when Mom finally went quiet.  
"I promise Mom"

After our talk Renee and I were almost inseparable. Only Edward as able to drag me away from her and even then it took him some time. And so when it came time for Renee to head back to Phoenix it was a bad day for me.  
"Don't worry sweetheart" Renee said as I clung to her in the airport,  
"I'll be back in June for the baby shower and then I'll be staying until Peanut arrives"  
"I don't want you to go Mom" I sobbed,  
"Oh sweetheart, I know" she said holding me closer "but listen. Your job for the next few months is to rest and enjoy being pregnant, a lot of things are going to change soon so I want you to relax and take it easy. I'll be back at your side before you have time to miss me." They called her flight before we could say anymore and with one last hug for both Edward and I my Mom was gone. Edward pulled me into his arms and held me close for a moment before leading me out of the airport and to the car.  
"Are you ok love?" he asked  
"Yeah. Do you mind if we stop by Charlie's though? I feel like I've been neglecting him these past few weeks"  
"Of course sweetheart. How about we stop at the store and grab a few things, we could make him a meal for when he gets home from the station" I grinned up at my Adonis  
"I love you" he grinned and stooped to kiss me.

We arrived at Charlie's in under an hour and let ourselves in with the key under the eve. Together we set about making steak, potatoes and pepper sauce, one of Charlie's favourite meals. It surprised me, how easily I fell back into my old routine. I had missed this, creating something from scratch and it calmed me. Which considering all of the pregnancy hormones running amok in the body at the moment was something of a miracle  
"What's all this!?" Charlie exclaimed as he walked through the door and hung his jacket and gun belt up. I rushed to him and hugged him tight just as Peanut kicked, I smiled.  
"Whoa there kiddo"  
"Dad, meet Peanut's feet" Charlie laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder steering me into the kitchen. "We thought we would make you a proper dinner and judging by the amount of pizza boxes in your trash it was a good idea." Edward tried to hide his grin as Charlie looked sheepish "Plus I missed you. I felt guilty for spending so much time with Mom this week"  
"Bella!" Charlie started "You don't ever need to feel guilty! She's your Mom, of course you want to spend time with her"  
"She apologised to me" I blurted out. Charlie and Edward stared at me and so over dinner I explained.  
When Edward and I left that night I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, it had been nice to spend with my parents, but tucking myself into Edward's side as we walked back to his car I knew I wouldn't give this up our situation for anything in the world.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	17. Chapter 17

The baby shower was due to take place in the middle of June and so Renee arrived a few days before to help prepare. Carlisle and Esme went to pick her up from the airport for us. Letting me rest up from the pain that now radiated constantly up and down my lower back. Edward of course stayed at home with me and waited on me hand and foot.  
"Edward sweetheart, relax, I'm fine as long as I'm lay down." He wouldn't listen though and instead asked constantly if I needed anything. I was glad when our parents returned and after letting Edward heave me up off of the bed I quickly made my way downstairs, excited to see Renee. She apparently felt the same way from the excited squeal that left her when she saw me making my way downstairs.  
"Hi Mom" I said excitedly  
"Bella! Oh sweetie look at you! You're glowing" she said before pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back fiercely  
"I missed you Mom"  
"I missed you too sweetheart. But I'm here now and I'm not leaving again until my granddaughter or grandson arrives and you may not even get rid of me then." We laughed and went into the living room to get settled.  
Everything was ready and the guests were on their way.  
"Bella, relax we have everything under control" Rose told me, steering me to a chair and making me sit. I couldn't relax though, I wasn't quite sure why, whether it was anticipation or purely from missing Edward (boys had been banned from the baby shower) the doorbell rang and I began trying to stand up. Alice laughed loudly as she came into the living room with a tray of drinks and saw me attempting to get up.  
"Bella stay where you are. For today you don't have to move at all, bathroom breaks the exception of course." I sighed and settled back into the chair giving in.  
Esme came into the living room with Angela, who was carrying a gift  
"Hi Ange!" I said happily. She came to give me a hug and then placed the gift on the table with the other brightly wrapped presents.  
"Hi Bella. How are you feeling?"  
"Tired and sore but happy" I told her "What do you think?" I said gesturing to the room, "Alice is like a whirlwind when she gets going" hour  
"It's wonderful" she breathed staring at the decorations covering the room. Streamers of pastel pink, blue, green and yellow hung from everywhere you could possibly imagine, while giant balloons of babies and dummies floated near the ceiling. A long table ran along one wall full of delicious food, lovingly created by Esme. She had gone all out creating cupcakes with everything from bottles to prams delicately created on top. And in the center of the table a cake, shaped like a baby grow and covered in pastel green icing.  
"And this isn't even the half of it. There are games and everything planned for later. Angela laughed and settled onto the couch helping herself to a drink. The rest of the girls joined us shortly after and for the first half an hour or so we talked animatedly about the baby's impending birth and Esme shared stories about Edward, Emmett and Alice's first years. Alice couldn't be reined in for long though and eventually she sprung up from her seat clapping to get everyone's attention  
"Time for games!" she practically shouted and we giggles  
"Ok Alice, what's first?" I asked  
"Guess Momma's belly size!" she exclaimed excitedly, then from a box near her feet she pulled a roll of yellow tape.  
"The rule is, you take the roll and try to guess how much you will need for it to wrap around Bella's bump. The closest length wins" Alice's excited grin made me laugh and so I sat up,  
"Ok, ok but someone is going to have to help me up."  
Renee jumped up and pulled me from my seat as the roll began to pass from person to person.  
Angela ended up winning that game, her tape being less than 1 inch too long. I fell out with Alice momentarily when hers ended up being more than 5 inches too long  
"I'm not that fat Alli!"  
"Oh don't be so dramatic!" she said  
Alice's plans of course turned out perfectly, as well as measuring my bump we played baby bingo, fastest nappy changer and even had a challenge of who could drink milk the fastest out of a baby bottle. We took a break after the games to have something to eat and drink and then when our food had settled, I opened my gifts. Edward and I had bought everything we would need for the baby and so they mostly consisted of clothes (particularly Alice's)  
"Thank you everyone. These are all beautiful!" A chorus of 'You're Welcome' followed and I smiled at them all.  
"You have one more gift Bella" Esme told me and handed me a small square box. "It's from Edward" I grinned and tore into the wrapping excitedly. I gasped as soon as I pried open the lid  
"Oh my!" inside was a beautiful silver necklace. The pendent depicted a family, 2 parents and a child all holding hands and with the shape of their arms making a heart. Tears filled my eyes and I smiled "Esme, your son is amazing." And she beamed with pride.

The boys arrived home from their baseball game later that night when the living room had been returned to its original state and all of Peanuts new things had been put away in the nursery. As soon as Edward walked through the door I ran (or wobbled) into his arms.  
"Hello baby" he said, his fingers running down my neck to where my new necklace lay "I take it you like your gift"  
"Edward it's one of the most beautiful and thoughtful things I've ever gotten. I love it. And I love you, thank you" he smiled down at me, causing my heart to speed up in reaction to his crooked grin  
"I'm glad, I love you too and you're more than welcome my love" I leant up to kiss him deeply just as Peanut aimed a nice big kick at my belly button. It caused Edward and I to laugh and he rested his hand on my bump rubbing gently  
"Hello Peanut, we love you too" he said as he knelt down to kiss my stomach.

We had our last scan on the 29th of June exactly a month before my due date,  
"Excited sweet girl?" Edward asked me as we sat in the waiting room. I nodded vigorously and he smiled kissing my forehead  
"Me too" Nurse Tara came out of her room then and smiled at us.  
"Hello you two, are you ready?" we nodded and stood up, me with Edwards's assistance of course.  
"How are you Tara?" Edward asked as we walked to her room  
"Great thank you Edward. How about you two?"  
"We're wonderful thank you, just excited for Peanuts arrival now"  
"Of course, it won't be long now. In fact you only have a month left so it could be any day now really"  
"Would that be safe? I asked shocked  
"We prefer you to go full term obviously but after a day or so in an incubator, baby would be perfectly healthy if they were born now." I nodded reassured somewhat. "Anyway, let's get started, can you get onto the bed Bella? Or do you need me to lower it for you?" I blushed  
"Could you lower it please?" Tara smiled and pushed the button. I clambered onto the bed and went through the process of lifting my shirt as usual. The cold gel hit my skin and the scan began. Edward sat next to me, his hand clasping mine and we both watched the screen. My favourite sound in the world filled the room again and I beamed.  
"Baby looks great" Tara said "he or she could do with turning a little more to engage but you have a month for that to happen so not to worry. Baby is about 6lbs and is about 47cm long from what I can tell"  
"Wow, Peanut isn't so much Peanut sized anymore" Edward said. Tara and I laughed.  
"Ok so everything looks great. You may start experiencing braxton hicks about now so don't panic if you get a little pain just read the baby books and learn to recognise the signs of labour" we nodded and I began wiping the gel off my stomach. Tara printed our pictures off for us and lowered the bed again for me.  
"So that's it, next time I see you will be foe your 6 weeks check with little Peanut. So good luck and remember, it's all worth it in the end" Edward and I smiled and thanked her before making our way back to the car and home.  
"How did it go Bella?" Renee asked when we got back to the house. Her and Esme were having a mid-afternoon snack and watching some god awful daytime TV show.  
"Great" I told them, as I sat next to Renee on the couch with Edward taking a seat next to me. "Peanut isn't engaged yet but she said that can happen any day, he's about 6lb and 47cm long" I got the pictures out of my bag and showed them to the two proud grandparents.  
"Wow! Bella he looks fantastic! Only 1 month to go, I'm so excited!" Esme exclaimed and suddenly I could see exactly where Alice got her personality from.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	18. Chapter 18

"Edward please!" I begged "I'm so sick of the sight of this room! Please just let me walk around for a while. It was late at night on the 1st August and I was officially 3 days overdue. My midwife had insisted that because I was a young Mom and therefore high risk that I should be put on bed rest and I was going insane.  
"No Bella, Peanut could start his arrival at any second, you need to rest"  
"Fine" I snapped but threw the golden covers off myself "If I can't walk around the house I can at least walk myself to the bathroom" I refused Edwards hand as he offered to help me up and instead struggled by myself,  
"Bella" Edward began but didn't get to finish as I managed to stand up by myself. I grinned, my annoyance forgotten as I childishly felt proud of myself. My grin didn't last though, as Edward smiled back at me a pain shot across my stomach. I gasped and grabbed Edwards forearm  
"Ow" I whispered  
"Bella?! Bella are you ok!?" I couldn't answer though. The pain was still too strong and as it began to wear off I was aware of a trickle making its way down my pajama leg.  
"Edward" I gasped "it's time, my water just broke" and instead of the panicked man I expected him to become, Edward simply beamed, kissed my lips quickly and then after helping me into some dry pants led me out of our bedroom door and downstairs.  
"Sit down Bella love" he said steering me to sit on the piano bench "I'm going to go and wake everyone and get the hospital bag ok. I'll be right back" I nodded and took deep calming breaths. Now that the pain had eased I couldn't help but smile. Peanut was on his way. I would finally get to meet my baby. Esme was the first downstairs pulling a cardigan over her clothes  
"Bella sweetheart are you ok?" I nodded  
"I'm ok, panicking but ok"  
"Everything is going to be fine darling, we're all here for you" My Mom was down next, closely followed by Alice, Rose and then the guys.  
"Bella, come on let's get you into the car" Renee said helping me up as Edward ran downstairs with the hospital bag. He handed it to Carlisle and then came to my other side. The rest followed behind us and piled into their cars. With Edward's insane driving we reached the hospital within 15 minutes. By the time we had parked the car and Edward had helped me out the others had arrived, my mom with Esme and Carlisle, who had stopped off to get Charlie as well and Alice and Jasper with Rose and Jasper in Rose's M3.  
They followed us through the hospital to the reception just as another contraction hit.  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I exclaimed gripping Edward with all my strength. He held me and rubbed circles on my back helping me through. Carlisle took the lead as I breathed through the contraction, as we approached the reception and the young girl sat there.  
"Hello Jane. We called from the car; Bella here is ready to welcome her little one into the world" Jane smiled  
"Of course Doctor Cullen. I've already paged Pam and she's on her way. You're in room 308 if you'd like to go up. Only 2 people at a time in the room though please. The rest of you can wait in the family lounge and trade off until Bella goes into delivery then only her birth partners are allowed in I'm afraid" we all nodded and made our way to Room 308.  
Pam was already waiting for us when we got there. Edward, Charlie and I went into the room with her and got settled  
"Ok then Bella, Edward. Here we go" Pam said grinning. We returned it with ones of our own and I lay back on the bed "So how are we doing?"  
"She started contracting about half an hour ago when her water broke. Her next contraction was 20 minutes later" Edward said quickly. Pam laughed  
"Someone is either wanting to follow in his Father's footprints or had read a lot of baby books" she said and Edward shrugged  
"Both"  
"Ok then Bella. Get yourself changed and comfortable and then I'll come back to examine you and get things going"  
"Ok thank you" I replied as she left the room. Edward grabbed my nightdress from the hospital bag while Charlie helped me to sit up  
"I'll go and keep everyone informed ok Bells. I'm so proud of you baby girl. I love you" I smiled and hugged my dad  
"I love you too daddy, thank you" he left and I moved into the bathroom to get changed. I was back on the bed with Edward at my side by the time Pam returned  
"Ok Bella, just pop your feet into the stirrups please" I did so, embarrassment flooding through me as I turned to look at Edward trying not to concentrate on what Pam was doing.  
"Ok Bella, all done" I put my feet down instantly "you're about 3 cm dilated which is good. You're still in the very first stage but it won't be long until you're in active labour" I smiled and nodded  
"Thank you Pam" she returned the smile  
"No problem, I'll come and check on you in about an hour. If you need anything, or anything changes just push the orange button. I'll go and tell your family they can start coming in" we nodded and Pam left.  
"Here we go sweetheart" Edward said placing a kiss on my forehead. That wasn't good enough for me though and I pulled him down to me, capturing his lips with mine.  
"Just so you know" I started as we broke away "I don't mean any horrible thing I say to you in the next several hours" he chuckled and kissed me again  
"I know sweetheart, I love you and I'm so proud of you baby" he kissed me again and grasped my hand tightly.

Renee and Esme came into the room as another contraction was ending. I breathed deeply through it and then smiled up at my two mothers  
"Hello my dear, how are you coping?" Esme asked stroking my hair lovingly  
"I'm ok; I'm still in early labour so it's not too bad. I'm still scared though" My Mom sat in the seat Edward offered her and smiled at me  
"Of course you are sweetheart, you're going to be fine though and we all get to meet your beautiful baby soon. I grinned and caressed my bump.  
"I'm going to go and grab a drink love" Edward said "Only two allowed remember" he saw my worried face and leant over to kiss my forehead "Don't worry, I'll be in the family lounge 30 seconds away if you need me" I nodded and with a quick kiss to my lips he left.  
"You raised a good boy Esme" Renee said and as Esme smiled on proudly.  
"So, how did you stop Alice bursting in here?" I asked with a grin. Esme and Renee laughed  
"Oh it was difficult" Esme said "I played the Mom card though" I laughed but it quickly turned into a gasp as another contraction hit. Renee and Esme coached me through it as I concentrated on my breathing  
"Ouch" I finally said when the pain had ebbed away." That was 15 minutes, we're progressing" I said with a laugh.

Over the next hour everyone came to visit. Rose and Alice bounced in chatting excitedly and taking pictures left, right and center. Then Charlie returned with Carlisle and brought with them big hugs grins and cuddles, telling me how proud they were of both Edward and I and how excited they were to meet Peanut. Finally Emmett and Jasper can in. Emmett cracking jokes and Jasper resting his hand on my shoulder and providing me somehow with the calmness that seemed to surround him.  
"Emmett?" I said as I contracted and he made yet more jokes "You do realise Rose want's children sooner rather than later right?" that shut him up and sent him scampering out of the room. Jasper laughed heartedly and hugged me before leaving.  
Finally Edward came back; I instantly felt my body relax. He smiled my favourite crooked grin and came over to kiss me.  
"I missed you" I whispered  
"Baby, I've been gone an hour"  
"An hour too long" he kissed me again firmly and took a seat. A knock on the door broke our bubble and Pam came into the room.  
"Well, how are we getting on in here?" she asked  
"They're every 10-15 minutes now" I told her  
"Ok, good, so we have some progress. That's fantastic for your first labour Bella. Should we see what's happening?" I nodded and grabbed Edwards hand as my legs were once again placed in the stirrups.  
"Wow" Pam said when she had finished "you're 5cm which may not seem much but for a first pregnancy its impressive" I grinned  
"Halfway there" Pam laughed"  
Yes, but this is the hard half" I gulped "I'm going to send a nurse in to hook you up to a monitor to measure the baby's heartbeat" I nodded and smiled.

Pam wasn't kidding. Over the next 5 hours my contractions became longer, stronger and a lot more painful. Edward stayed with me constantly now while everyone took turns to come and see me. Alice was there when Pam came to examine me again. I was in the middle of a contraction and breathing deeply on the gas and air  
"I take it things are moving along?" she said  
"You think?" I growled  
"Ok so things are really moving" Pam added in response to my snappy reply  
"Sorry" I said sheepishly  
"Don't worry Bella, I've had a lot worse" after my examination Pam looked at me grinning  
"Well Bella, it's time to go to delivery. You're 10cm dilated. You're about to become a Mom"  
Nerves exploded in my stomach as Alice squealed. I looked to Edward and saw my nerves echoed on his face. I smiled weakly  
"Here we go" he smiled back and kissed me  
"Time to meet Peanut"  
"Who are your birth partners Bella?" Pam asked as she prepared my bed and monitors to be moved. Edward and I grinned broadly, this part was going to be fun,  
"Edward of course, and Alice"  
"Huh?" Alice said, she had been flicking through the pictures she had taken and had not been listening  
"You're my second birth partner" I told her with a grin "That is if you want to" she was stunned into silence for a moment before she jumped up  
"Are you serious! Yes, yes, yes!" I shushed her quickly and uselessly as she bounced around in excitement.  
"Alice!" Edward said "Why don't you go and tell the family what's happening" he said  
"Ok" and she pranced out of the room  
"Thank you baby" I said "Maybe we should have told her sooner?" I laughed  
"Don't worry love, Mom will calm her down"  
Alice was back in less than a minute and although she still wore an ear splitting grin she had thankfully stopped bouncing  
"Ok, we're all set, let's go" Pam said as the porters started wheeling me out of the room. A short way down the corridor my family waited to see me pass offering words of encouragement and large smiles. I was stunned to see Charlie with tears in his eyes and I smiled at him.  
3 more contractions came and went on my journey up to delivery and with them an intense pressure in my pelvis. Pam examined me again once I was situated in my delivery room.  
"Well Bella, baby's head has come down into the birth canal and so I need you to push now when you get a contraction. I nodded as said contraction made its appearance. Edward grabbed my hand and whispered words of encouragement while Alice dampened my head with a cloth.

Any person who claims birth is easy is deluded. The pain was excruciating and the pressure intense.  
"Good Bella, that's it, great" the contraction faded and I stopped pushing. "Well done Bella, baby's on its way, just a few more pushes. Sweat was pouring out of me and I panted hard. All I wanted to do was sleep, people were bustling around the room wheeling in a small plastic cot for Peanut and blankets were placed on the side where nurses stood waiting to check Peanut over and Edward the love of my life faithfully next to me. I looked to him and just from that look he knew what I needed. Bending down he placed the sweetest and most loving kiss on my lips  
"I love you Isabella. You're doing so well, Peanut is nearly here." Another contraction hit and with a moan I bore down and began pushing again.  
Pam sprang back into action  
"Good Bella, that's fantastic I can see baby's head" Edward peered over and the look on his face was my focus. It was just as Esme said, like he was seeing the sun for the first time.  
"Ok Bella, the head's out. Pant for me now" I did as I was told and Edward looked back at me  
"Peanut has my hair" he said halfway between laughter and amazement. I tried to smile but the pressure in my stomach was too intense. Then after one giant contraction and push I felt Peanut slip from me. Edward gasped and I looked at him to see tears pouring down his face  
"Oh Bella!" he started peppering my face with kissed "She's beautiful!"  
"She?" I questioned and he nodded. I guess I was wrong  
"YES! I knew it!" Alice said through her happy sobs.  
And then I heard it. My baby girls first cry, it was high pitched and heart breaking. Pam grinned and then lifted the tiny bundle onto my chest  
"Congratulations Bella. She's perfect"

It was instantaneous and magical. I stared at my daughters tiny features and fell completely in love with her. There was nothing I wouldn't do for this tiny angel I held in my arms. I didn't even notice as Pam and the nurses cleaned me up and delivered the afterbirth. Edward cut the cord and then was instantly back at our side.  
"Thank you Bella, thank you for bringing her to me. I love you so much baby. So, so much" I kissed him fiercely  
"I love you too" Alice came to us then from where she had been taking pictures  
"Oh Bella, she's so beautiful. Thank you for letting me be a part of this"  
"You're welcome Alli. I love you"  
"I love you too sis"  
"Can we take her to get cleaned and wrapped up?" Pam asked. I nodded and kissed my baby's head before Pam took her to the nurses. I lay my head back and closed my eyes trying to come to terms with the well of emotions and hormones running through my body. My Peanut was here and not the boy I was sure I was having but I felt nothing but joy. I had a beautiful baby girl. And as I lay there basking in the joy of birth I thought back to the picture I had in my head of Edward reading to our little boy and instantly the picture changed. Now a small girl with copper ringlets sat curled into her Father as he read to her. It brought a tear to my eye and then brought a few more. Before I knew it I was sobbing hysterically  
"Bella baby, what's up?" Edward asked  
"Nothing" I sobbed "I just love you both so much" Edward chuckled softly  
"We love you too sweetheart, more than anyone"  
"I'm going to go and tell everyone ok? Alice said and I nodded  
"Go with her Edward" I told him  
"Are you sure love?"  
"Of course. Every Father should be able to announce the birth of his daughter" Edward grinned and swooped down to kiss me  
"Thank you baby" And he left with Alice, slinging his arms around her shoulder.  
"Ok Bella, we'll move you into maternity in a second. You're little one was 7lb 8oz and was born at 8:15pm on the 1st of August 2004" I grinned  
"Thank you Pam, for everything"  
"It was my pleasure Bella, now do we have a name for this beautiful girl?" she asked as she placed my baby back into my arms  
"Her name is…."

I couldn't stop staring at my little girl. Her tiny fingers and toes. Everything about her was perfect; her eyes were blue at the moment but seemed to be getting darker. Edward was convinced that she was going to have my brown eyes. Her daddy was currently holding her walking around our small room and talking to her intently while I looked on with nothing but love.  
There was a knock on the door and Edward passed her back to me before going to open it. Our family came into the room with eager and excited expressions on every one of their faces. I grinned from the bed while Edward hung back allowing them to get a good look at the newest member of the family.  
"Oh Bella!" my Mom exclaimed "Congratulations sweetie, she's so beautiful!" Everyone agreed and waited anxiously. I chuckled and turned to Renee first,  
"Mom, would you like to hold her?" she nodded vigorously and I passed her over. She was passed around each member of our family and I waited for the inevitable question. It took until Alice finally got to hold her niece that it came  
"So, how long are you going to keep us in suspense?" Carlisle asked  
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Edward said with a mischievous grin  
"Bellllaaaa!" Rosalie wined "What's her name?!" Edward and I laughed  
"Everyone, I would like you to meet… Renesmee Carlie Cullen" I grinned as everyone instantly fixed a smile on their faces  
"Relax guys, there's a reason it's so unusual. Think about it. Renee plus Esme equals Renesmee and Charlie plus Carlisle equals Carlie. Renesmee Carlie Cullen, Our angel" and then the smiles were genuine while our parents beamed through their tears,  
"Thank you, both of you it's an honor" Carlisle said. Charlie came and hugged me tightly,  
"I love you kiddo"  
"I love you too daddy"  
They left us soon afterwards giving hugs and kisses to us all on the way.

Renesmee, Edward and I left the hospital 2 days later after being given the all clear. A small welcome home party was waiting for us when we arrived home and Renesmee was soon scooped up as I walked through the door. The woman, who included Angela were soon crowded around Esme and Renesmee, cooing over her.  
Edward led me over to the couch and made me sit down with my feet up.  
"Edward I'm fine" he leaned down and kissed me  
"You may be fine but you're also healing and so you are going to rest. Now I'm going to go and rescue our daughter" I grinned and watched him approach the gaggle of woman  
"Excuse me ladies but I believe my little Peanut is craving some daddy time" Angela who was holding Renesmee smiled and passed her gently to Edward.  
"She's beautiful Edward, congratulations"  
"Thank you Angela"  
Edward took her over to the men who immediately were besotted by her. They looked on as Edward held her, their faces filled with love and protection. I leant back and felt my eyes close of their own accord and before I knew it, sleep took me.

A high pitched cry awoke me from my slumber and my eyes snapped open. It took me a few moments for the events of the last few days to catch up with me but as soon as they did my head snapped around looking for my little girl. It didn't take me long to find her. Charlie was walking over with her cradled in his arms,  
"I think she's hungry Bells" he said sitting next to me  
"Thanks dad" I sat up and he passed Renesmee over to me  
"She is so beautiful Bella, she reminds me so much of you" I smiled at him "I'm so proud of you my sweet girl" he continued as Renesmee quieted a little  
"thank you dad. For supporting me through this and looking after me all these years. I know it must have been hard." Charlie smiled and kissed me forehead  
"it was worth every second Bella. You'll see, you'll see."  
My little angel made herself know then and began crying earnestly  
"Oh dear" I began "Come on then my darling, dinnertime" Charlie smiled on but didn't move "Erm dad, I'm not bottle feeding" he caught on quickly and blushed  
"Oh! Ok then, I'll just go and see what Carlisle is up to" and he scarpered quickly.  
I chuckled to myself and turned to look at my fussy daughter.  
"Grandpa's funny isn't he little one?"

Edward and I lay on our bed that night with Renesmee asleep on his bare chest while we simply stared at her.  
"I never imagined it could feel like this" I told Edward tucking myself into him further and stroking Renesmee's soft, bronze hair "That I could adore someone so much"  
"Well thanks" Edward said with a chuckle. I hit his shoulder lightly  
"You know what I mean. It's so instantaneous, so final. It makes you wonder how some people can harm their children. I would rip apart anyone who tried to hurt her."  
"Me too love, me too" Edward replied stroking our daughter's tiny clenched fist.  
"We had better get some sleep while we can" I said getting up and lifting my sleeping angel off her Daddy. Once she was settled in her Moses basket (she would be going into the nursery once she was sleeping through the night) I climbed back into bed with Edward, love of my life, father of my child and the man I knew I would always, no matter what be able to depend on.  
"Goodnight sweetheart" he said wrapping me securely in his arms  
"Goodnight Edward, I love you"  
"I love you too baby"

We got maybe 2 hours sleep before Renesmee's cry woke us. I groaned and rubbed my eyes sitting up. Edward sat up too  
"And so it begins" he said with a sleepy smile.

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


	19. Chapter 19

**Well this is it! I apologise for the painfully short last chapter. But I would really like to hear what you think **** It's my first All Human story so please! Let me know **

**Thank you for sticking with me**

**x-Peace out -x**

"Bella, are you ready love?" Edward called to me  
"Almost, we'll be down in a second"  
Renesmee was almost 2 months old and today was her first trip to the park. The whole family was going for a picnic on a surprisingly warm day for Forks and to meet up with Emmett and Rosalie who were back from college for the weekend. Once we were ready I carried a wide awake baby downstairs to meet her daddy.  
"You both look beautiful" he said kissing me sweetly and placing a light kiss on Renesmee's forehead  
"Where is everyone?" I asked passing Renesmee to him while I put my shoes on  
"They went on ahead to meet Em and Rose and to set up"  
"Ok then, I'm ready let's go" I grinned.

It took less than 20 minutes for us to reach the park and Edward opened my door before moving to take Renesmee out of the car,  
"Finally!" Emmett exclaimed as we approached the group already spread out on the extra-large picnic blanket "I've been waiting for cuddles all week!" he added making his way over to Renesmee  
"Now Emmett. What did we talk about?" I said using my best Mom voice  
"Be gentle, don't swing her around and support her head" he recited like a school boy studying for a test  
"Well done" I said before hugging him fiercely "I missed you Emmy" he wrapped his arms around me in one of his bone crushing hugs and lifted me right off the ground  
"I missed you too Bellsie, now gimmie my niece" and I was unceremoniously dumped back on my feet as he whisked Renesmee away. Laughter rippled around us all as he sat down with her being as slow and gentle as possible.  
After a lunch of delicious goodies made my Esme the boys went off to start a game of football. A well fed and content Renesmee was asleep in her Aunt Rose's arms  
When our tired boys came back we began packing up ready to head home before Edward stopped us  
"Hold on a second guys" he began and then taking Renesmee off me he handed her to Carlisle  
"Edward? Wha…?" but he cut me off and pulled me to stand in front of everyone.  
He tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and smiled  
"Bella. I love you so much I can't even begin to explain it to you. You have given me so much, your love, your heart and now, a family" we both looked to our little girl when he said this, "And now I want to give you something in return. Isabella Swan I love you more and more each day and I hope you will allow me to love you for the rest of our lives. Bella Swan, will you marry me?" I gasped and watched as he dropped to one knee and pulled out the most beautiful engagement ring I had ever seen. It matched my promise ring with a white gold band splitting on either side into a leaf like design surrounding a circular emerald.  
I didn't hear the gasps and shouts of excitement from my family, all I saw was Edward and his reaction as I nodded my head vigorously and whispered 'yes' over and over.

He stood and slipped the ring onto my left ring finger. I beamed through my tears and embraced my fiancé before kissing him fiercely. We were pulled from person to person as congratulations were shouted to us, and all I could do was smile.  
My life was like something out of a dream. I had wonderful family and friends, a man whom I loved with all my heart and a beautiful little girl who was the apple of my eye. And as my fiancé captured me once again in his arms I knew that no matter what life threw at us, as long as we were together we would get through.  
"I love you so much Edward"  
"I love you too my beautiful Bella, forever and always"

**Please let me know what you think and review! :D**


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